


The Kids are Alright

by Lily_Of_The_Valley23



Category: Shugo Chara!
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - High School, Dancing, Dorms, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-02-22 02:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 41,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22108060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lily_Of_The_Valley23/pseuds/Lily_Of_The_Valley23
Summary: After too many fights and arguments, A family in Rima’s neighbourhood call the police on her parents. In danger of being taken away, Seiyo is Rima’s saving grace as it becomes a boarding school. But after she is housed with a certain Nadeshiko, what secret will she uncover?
Relationships: Fujisaki Nagihiko/Mashiro Rima, Hinamori Amu/Hotori Tadase, Hinamori Amu/Tsukiyomi Ikuto, Hoshina Utau/Souma Kuukai
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	1. Out of Balance

The world was in movement, yet Rima sat still. Outside of the car, everything flashed by. Trees, houses, roads, mailboxes, picket fences, cyclists, pedestrians, children and animals were inconsequential and passed in the blink of an eye. All of the noises, sights and smells were faded and Rima’s entire universe existed inside of the vehicle, where she stewed in displeasure. 

There was no room in her mind for anything else. The air felt stale and static. Logically she knew the car moved, not the environment around her. Regardless, it felt as if it was stuck in subspace as the fear and anguish that came with returning home surrounded her, and threatened to swallow her entire conscious. 

Indeed, she dreaded the weekend especially, more than any other day of the week. School was bearable for her, although she by no means ‘’loved’’ learning. No, truly, it was not a matter of studying itself, but rather the peace she was allowed to enjoy during her time in class.

During the days she spent at home she was forced to listen to countless arguments between her parents. Her father was a hot-head and unpredictable. As a result any incident no matter how insignificant had the potential to set him off.

Sitting in front of the steering wheel, her mother was driving them home. The closer they came to home, the closer they were to another hellish two days of fighting. Rima felt her heart beat loudly with anxiety and wished desperately for a quiet evening.

As her mother drove into the parking spot paved into their garden, Rima snuck a peek at her. She looked just as worn as Rima felt. After a tired sigh, her mother turned her head and smiled at Rima.

‘We’re home now.’

It was a quiet march into the house. Dutifully, her mother started to tidy as soon as they came in. Not knowing what to do with herself, Rima turned on the TV with the hopes of her favorite show being on.

In due time she heard her father come in and slam the door. A bad omen. Excited to see him, she ran to the foyer to meet him. The twisted fury and bitterness on his face promised conflict.

‘Hi dad!’

He gave her a brisk nod and strode past her with haste.

As expected, the shouting started mere moments later.

‘Stupid woman! All I want from you is a decent meal after work and this is what you give me.’

Rima tuned out the rest of their bickering and attempted to seek refuge in her room upstairs, but her mother stopped her with the obvious message that ‘’dinner would be served’’.

The meals in the Mashiro residence were more or less court sessions where Rima’s mother was accused of endless wrong-doings by her father. His punishment for her mother consisted of a multitude of looks filled with venom and rude words. How Rima played into it? Well, depending on her behavior, he either regarded her as a piece of furniture or as demon spawn when she had the cheek to stick up for her mother.

‘This food tastes like cardboard.’ Her father said it with an air of unbothered arrogance, as if to challenge her mother to contradict him. An anger nestled itself inside Rima’s heart, and battled with her brain that told her not to take the bait. By way of strategy Rima decided to address her mother rather than argue with her father.

‘Mom, thanks for cooking.’ 

Her mother gave her a grateful smile that made her fathers’ angry retaliation worth it. 

‘What have I done to deserve such a defiant daughter?’

To keep from snapping back, Rima bit her tongue.

‘Well? Answer me!’ He yelled.

Apologizing was the road to peace, that much was obvious. Be that as it may, Rima didn’t want to do that. Her father didn’t deserve that courtesy. He should be the one to apologize.

‘I wasn’t being defiant. I was just thanking mom for cooking. Not everything is about you.’

‘How dare you!’ Get out of my sight.’

‘Fine!’ She screamed at him, and stormed upstairs.

Tiredly, she threw herself into her bed. As usual, the howling continued the entire evening and into the night. First the tears came as quiet whimpers. Eventually they turned into shrieking sobs. Long after she had fallen asleep, her mother came into her room. Standing over her with a wistful look on her face, she brushed a single strand of hair out of Rima’s face.

‘I’m sorry baby.’

Out of frustration her father had punched a hole in the wall on the ground floor, that startled her mother and woke Rima from her sleep. It gave her an uneasy feeling, and she glanced at her mother with a fearful look in her eyes. Her mother simply sighed, and kissed Rima on her forehead. 

In spite of her mothers’ reassurance, the nagging feeling of anxiety hadn’t left her, and she felt very much like someone else had watched the scene alongside them. Her suspicions would turn out to be correct, as one of their neighbors had picked up the phone that night for the umpteenth time, finally deciding to report the loud noises coming from the Mashiro household to the authorities.


	2. A Chance Arrangement

The letter became more and more crumpled as Rima folded yet another corner of it. All of the wrinkles and creases had worn the paper until it had torn in places. In spite of the fact that she had gotten it that day, it looked several weeks old after Rima had used to calm her nerves. Doubtlessly, her father would be upset with her for not delivering it in its original state.

Currently her systems were flooded with emotions. They were all jumbled in her head. She felt exhausted, and didn’t know how to make sense of everything that had happened.

_ ‘Rima.’ _

_ She blinked her eyes groggily at her mother. Why had she woken her up in the middle of the night? _

_ ‘Hm?’ _

_ ‘There’s someone here that wants to talk to you. You have to be honest with her, alright?’ _

Needless to say, Rima had not been completely truthful with the person that had ‘wanted to talk with her’. By the time she had been presentable enough to speak, the lady that worked for the government had started to ask all kinds of questions in a very condescending manner.

_ ‘Neighbors have said they often hear your father hit your mother. Is this true?’ _

_ Going by the tone of her voice, she might as well have been speaking to a two-year-old. It enraged Rima. This woman had no business setting foot in their house. _

_ ‘No.’ _

_ Clearly irritated, the woman looked at her as if she was a stubborn donkey refusing to let someone ride its back. _

_ ‘Are you sure?’ _

_ With the intention of giving the woman a harder time, Rima lifted her chin in defiance and answered with a single word. _

_ ‘Yes.’ _

In hindsight Rima didn’t know if she had made the right decision by not telling the government-lady the whole story. However, in the moment itself she knew she just wanted to protect her parents, because that’s all they ever wanted to do for her.

And then this sudden change at Seiyo…

_ For reasons unknown the Guardians had been called into Tsukasa’s office. Although the smell of old books always made Rima queasy, being in the small space filled her with a sense of wonder. The space felt sacred, given that all of the furniture was so perfectly arranged. To a layman it might seem haphazard or messy, but Rima knew better. Every item on Tsukasa’s desk had a purpose. All of the chairs, tables and couches were organized so its occupants could be scrutinized by the headmaster. Down to the smallest decoration on the wall, it all had a function. It was strangely calming to Rima. _

_ No-one knew why they had been summoned. While Kukai irritated Rima by tapping his feet incessantly, Tadase buffed up his chest in an effort to look dignified. In spite of his well-meant attempts, Yaya and Amu were still goofing off next to him. As a result, Rima found the scene rather hilarious. _

_ Until Tsukasa hurriedly dropped in. Whereas he usually was cheerful and unbothered, he now appeared uncharacteristically grave and serious. _

_ ‘Thank you for coming on such short notice.’ _

_ As if they had anywhere else to be in the middle of a school day, Rima though snidely. _

_ ‘I’m afraid I’ve made quite a bit of trouble for you all. You see, this was supposed to have been announced months ago…’ _

The rest was history. After a dubious story concerning permits and building expansions, he’d still neglected to make the actual announcement.   
Ever the sycophant, Tadase helpfully reminded Tsukasa of the reason he had requested their presence.

_ ‘Ah yes! Seiyo is transitioning in a rather short time period from a day-school to a co-ed boarding school.’ _

Thankfully the meeting had adjourned shortly afterwards.   
Altogether it had disrupted her day horribly and made it pass in even more of a blur than before. She idly wondered where she was supposed to find the strength to cope with all of it.

That’s how she found herself in her fathers’ car at the end of the day, still too shaken to tell him what the headmaster had disclosed several hours earlier.

The letter was starting to look like a mountain after a snowstorm with all the damage she’d done to it. In fact, her father was starting to notice.

‘What do you have there? Some poor fellow’s love-letter?’ He cackled at his own joke.

‘No.’ She said in a small voice. A silence fell between them as she struggled to find words.

‘It’s a letter from school…’ She began. In frustration, she scratched her head. ‘So, our headmaster is an idiot and told us that our school will become a boarding school. But not, next year or something, next week or so. Because he forgot to tell us, apparently.’

An expression of extreme disbelief came over her father, as he stared her in the rear-view mirror. Not knowing how to respond, he took some time to let the words sink in.

‘What?’

‘Yeah. He said you can call the school if you have questions.’

No one spoke for the remainder of the car-ride, which Rima took as a bad sign.   
The moment after they had pulled into the drive-way, her father spoke again. 

  
He seemed pensive and downtrodden.

‘Perhaps this for the best.’ He said.

Rima stared at him with a shocked look.

‘The way your mother and I talk to each other now… We’re not setting a good example for you.’

‘Dad…’

‘No Rima. Don’t talk back to me. The neighbors were right to call the police, you shouldn’t witness me and your mother fighting like that.’

Annoyed that he had once again told her to be quiet, she got out of the car and stormed into the house without looking back.


	3. Rising at Dawn

The next day, Rima clutched her suitcase nervously after her mother had dropped her off at Seiyos’ doorstep. Events truly had passed in a whirlwind. Although she was happy to move to a more peaceful environment, the process itself had gone too fast for her liking.

She silently thanked whatever god was paying attention to her when she saw Amu’s pink hair a few meters away from her.

‘Amu!’ The instant Amu heard that Rima had called her name, she turned her head and flashed her a warm smile. The pink tresses of her hair that were usually in a high ponytail, were now resting on her shoulder and sticking out in all directions. Additionally, her face was flustered and she appeared sweaty.

When Rima came closer to her, she saw the reasons were two monstrous pink bags Amu was carrying.

‘Was your house burned down by a dragon? Are you joining the circus?’

Amu stared at her, confused.

‘What are you talking about?’ She wheezed, still struggling to hold her bags up.

'Why did you bring so many clothes?!’ Rima exclaimed.

In response, Amu made a visibly insulted face. Its effect was ruined, however, by the fact that she was still very weighed down by bags and nearly fell over. With great effort she balanced herself.

‘I just want to make sure I don’t run out of things to wear!’

She bristled at Rima’s flabbergasted expression.

‘You do know we’ll be wearing our uniform everyday, right?’

‘But we can wear our own clothes after class!’

Despite Rima’s serious doubts that Amu needed two bags full of clothes for after-school outfits, she decided it would be wise not to argue. By the same token, she knew Amu was not able to carry them all the way to the school dormitories by herself.

She already regretted what she was about to suggest.

‘Do you need any help?’

Amu nodded avidly. While simultaneously carrying her own baggage, Rima dragged the large and heavy contraption up several flights of stairs.

Therefore, she was completely exhausted by the time they had reached Amu’s dorm.

‘Was that…’ She paused to catch her breath. ‘Was that everything?’

Noticeably embarrassed, Amu replied in a subdued voice.

‘My dad is coming over later to bring more luggage.’

Rima shook her head in disappointment. 

‘Well, I’ll be off to my own dwelling now.’

In an attempt to soothe Rima’s temper somewhat, Amu offered to help her as well, but Rima turned her down. Considering her usual schedule, it was too early to do that much manual labour for Rima, and definitely too early to be irritated by Amu’s all-encompassing need to please everyone. With only a small amount of guilt did she fend Amu off and made her way to her dorm for some much deserved rest.

Be that as it may, she was rather inattentive as she walked.

Lost in thought, Rima crashed head first into a female student that she didn’t know.

‘Pardon me, you should watch where you’re going! You could have caused a serious accident.’

Before answering her unfounded accusation, Rima took a few moments to scrutinize the girl in front of her.

A long violet high pony sat on the crown of her head and fell beautifully on her shoulder and down her back. When she turned her head side-ways it moved like a river in the valley. The uniform that she had already decided to wear looked plain on everyone else, but it fit the girl in front of her just right. The red buttons and lining emphasized her gold-colored eyes, and the button-up collar made her jawline stand out in sharp relief.

She looked so perfect, and it made Rima feel homely. An excellent target for Rima’s pent up frustration.

‘Watch where I’m going? I’m dragging a heavy suitcase to this room all by myself and you’re doing, what? Standing in a hallway? You should watch out!’

With an obvious tell of anger, the girl swept her long ponytail behind her back. A condescending smile made its way onto her face that Rima wanted to wipe off.

‘Dear, it clearly didn’t get through that thick skull of yours, but I am also staying in this dorm. My valet is coming up to bring my luggage.’

Rima wanted to strangle her. Instead, she just gave her the best sneer she could manage.

‘Do me a favor, leave me alone for a couple of hours while I recover from this headache you’ve given me.’

Satisfied that her words seemed to have had an impact, Rima slammed the door in the girls face and took in the dorm in front of her. The word ‘dorm’ didn’t do the hallway she stood in justice; it was merely a small segue into three rooms. One of which was a bathroom, presumably. Rima was far too exhausted to care which room was better, and just threw herself on the first bed she could find.

Belatedly she realized that she had already jeopardized any chance at friendship with her roommate, and she didn’t even know her name yet!

Nevertheless, an apology wasn’t in the cards. The girl had ran into her and then called her dumb. If anything, she should have been the one to say sorry.

A tentative knock at the door roused her from her thoughts. She mentally prepared herself for an incredibly awkward talk.

‘Come in.’ She yelled.

The purpled-haired girl peeked into her room in a way that Rima found strangely adorable. Now that she felt more level-headed, Rima stood up and extended her hand to the girl, whom just raised her eyebrows haughtily. Consequently Rima felt her patience dissipate slowly like snow in the sunlight. The girl must have noticed, however, as she took Rima’s hand before she had a chance to fly off the handle again.

‘My humblest apologies for the scene in hallway earlier.’ There was a small undertone of sarcasm, but the words sounded mostly genuine. ‘My name is Nadeshiko Fujisaki, pleased to make your acquaintance.’

Rima gripped Nadeshiko’s hand a little harder than was considered polite, and replied with a snide smile.

‘Likewise. Rima Mashiro.’

Now that Rima had the chance to get a better look at Nadeshiko, it was obvious she had money. Her hands were perfectly manicured, and her skin was flawless.

Just her luck that she had to share a dorm with Saaya-2.0.

Given Rima had to suffer Nadeshikos’ presence regardlessly, she supposed she might as well make the best of it.

‘So you transferred to Seiyo?’

‘Yes. Seiyo has always been the closest school to our families estate, however, I’ve been more focused on my studies of the arts for the greater part of my academic career.’

‘Studies of the arts?’

‘My family owns a renowned dance company. I will inherit it after I graduate from high school.’

Perhaps the girl wasn’t as stuck-up and airheaded as Saaya after all, Rima surmised.

‘Were you homeschooled before?’

‘No, but Seiyo didn’t offer a program with reduced hours unlike some other schools. I’ve now mastered the required level of skill in dance, so I can focus on getting my diploma.’

Rima whistled through her teeth.

‘Must have been hard, trying to do both.’

Nadeshiko raised one eyebrow, a habit of hers that was already starting to get on Rima’s nerves.

‘Not at all. It simply takes diligence and discipline.’ An uncomfortable silence fell. ‘I suppose you transferred as well?’

‘You suppose incorrectly. I’ve been attending Seiyo since primary school.’

Unfortunately, Rima’s words drew forth a sound from Nadeshiko that probably meant she was now obligated to her in some way.

‘Why, that is just swell. You can give me a tour of campus before orientation!’ 

The mischievous smile on Nadeshiko’s face said everything Rima needed to know about her intentions. Nevertheless, Rima knew she owed Nadeshiko for making such a mess of herself in the hallway.

If that was how she wanted to play the game, let her, Rima thought to herself. She wasn’t born yesterday.

With fake courtesy, Rima inclined her head. ‘Of course! You don’t mind if I bring my friend, do you? The more the merrier!’

‘Not at all.’

‘Good. Let’s walk to her room together.’

Nadeshiko’s cheer almost made Rima feel bad for her trickery, but not quite.

As Rima had hoped, Amu was buried under a pile of fabric by the time they arrived.

‘I’m so glad you’re here!’ She yelped. ‘Wait, who are you?’

In view of the clear look of distaste on Nadeshiko’s face, it was obvious she found the disarray in Amus’ room upsetting.

‘This is Nadeshiko.’ Rima clapped her on the shoulder. ‘She was just saying we would love to help you sort out your clothing.’

The positively murderous eyes that Nadeshiko trained in Rima’s direction was a declaration of war. Nevertheless, Rima winked at her with glee. The chore which Nadeshiko clearly thought was beneath her would teach her not to trifle with Rima again.

‘Really?! I’m so happy, I don’t think I can manage alone…’

‘By all means…’

_________________________________________________________________________

No shorter than thirty minutes later, Amu left to go meet her father in front of the schools gates. Her clothes were neatly folded in the provided oaken-made closets.

Given that Nadeshiko had helped fold countless skirts and dresses, Rima decided she’d tortured her enough and gave her the promised tour of campus.

They exited the dormitory building, and headed towards the main building, where the classrooms and dining hall were located.

On most days, the architectural style that had been chosen for Seiyos’ buildings perplexed Rima. Certainly, there were no other schools in the city built in the same manner.

Although she had never been outside of Japan (she bet Nadeshiko had been and would tell her all about it if asked) she was sure it was forgein-looking. Resting on top of the pointed roof were two small turrets with merlons purely for aesthetic purposes. Heaps of windows lined the buildings’ walls, as well as pilasters that were one floor high each interrupted by brackets.

In spite of its bizarre appearance, it was home to Rima as much as her own house.

‘It’s stunning.’ Nadeshiko said breathlessly.

‘It’s school.’ Rima supplied dryly.

Hoping to avoid more conversation, Rima turned towards the large wooden doors that were the main buildings’ entrance.

‘Wait just a minute please.’ Nadeshiko beckoned Rima back. Markedly Rima groaned and looked in her direction.

‘What?’

‘You did that on purpose, didn’t you? You knew your friend was busy putting away her clothes.’

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. I would never do such a thing.’

Not only did Rima look at Nadeshiko with a face full of innocence, she also crossed her arms behind her back piously.

‘All I wanted to do was help Amu. Irritating you was just a nice bonus.’

Nadeshiko sighed audibly with annoyance.

‘Did I not apologize to you?’

‘No. You said sorry for ‘a scene’. You never apologized for calling me stupid.’

Real regret seemed to appear in Nadeshikos’ demeanor.

‘I am truly, truly sorry for calling you stupid. That is not the way I wanted to get acquainted with you.’

Briefly Rima studied Nadeshikos’ countenance, looking for any hint of insincerity. When she could find nothing, she decided to take Nadeshikos’ words in good faith.

‘Apology accepted.’

‘Very well. Additionally, if I still had any notion that you were in fact stupid, your conduct of this morning has proven the contrary. You are actually rather shrewd.’

Rima wondered if Nadeshiko had insulted her somewhere betwixt all those fancy words. However, before she could open her mouth to argue, Nadeshiko hurried into the hall of the main building. She could already tell this was going to be a long year.


	4. With Friends Like These

Whereas all of the students had gathered in the announcement hall (which also doubled as the dining hall) for oriëntation, only the Guardians were required to listen to the initial summons, given by Tsukasa backstage.

In a unanimous decision Tadase had been selected to greet the new and old Seiyo students. 

‘And finally,’ Tsukasa began, a smile still plastered on his face, ‘I have decided to add several new Guardian chairs, as per the increase of new students.’

Even Tadase and Amu seemed a little surprised and disgruntled by the news.

‘Why?’ asked Yaya in a whiny tone of voice.

‘Well,’ Tsukasa stopped to look at each of them slowly, ‘It is important that each Guardian has a unique perspective, so that many different types of students feel comfortable asking them for help. The five of you have become a tightly knit group over the years, which is just as well. However, the new students might not be brave enough to approach you, because such a strong student spirit already exists at Seiyo.’ He paused.

Tadase elbowed Kukai who seemed to have dozed off.

‘With the addition of new Guardian chairs, new students will feel encouraged to become a part of the Seiyo family as they can see the new Guardians adjust as well.’

Each of them nodded in response. Then Tsukasa motioned in the direction of the stage. He himself stood in front of the microphone - Rima had not seen that happen in a long time - gave a short introductory talk, and then finally set to announcing the new Guardians.

‘These are the currently reigning Guardians: Kings Chair, Tadase Hotori.’

An eruption of giggles broke loose, and Rima deducted Tadase had once again become more popular.

‘Queens Chair, Rima Mashiro.’

A few of her fans waved at her. In an attempt to channel a queenly energy, Rima waved back.

‘Jacks Chair, Kukai Souma.’

If the reactions were anything to go by, all of the male guardians were rather beloved.

‘Aces’ Chair, Yaya Yuiki.’

A proud smile was set on Yaya’s face which foretold nothing but trouble.

‘Jokers Chair, Amu Hinamori.’

‘I will now announce four new Guardian Chairs, that were only given to new students. Any new students with questions or problems are welcome to approach new and old Guardians.’

‘Knaves’ Chair, Ikuto Tsukiyomi.’

A tall boy who was doubtlessly older than all of them made his way toward the stage. 

‘Bards Chair, Utau Hoshina.’

The ascension of a cold girl with blond hair caused the most ruckus. Amu poked Rima in de ribs and pointed energetically, regardless, Rima did not understand what all the fuss was about.

‘Jesters Chair, Nadeshiko Fujisaki.’

Without a grain of self-restraint, Rima groaned loudly. She should have known. Life had just thrown her a bone, and had then knocked her down on her back again. Clearly Rima and Nadeshiko didn’t get along very well, and now Rima would be forced to spend more time with her. Even so, she wouldn’t give Nadeshiko the satisfaction of knowing how agitated she was about her appointment as Guardian.

‘Knights’ Chair, Kairi Sanjou.’

A young boy who looked like stringbean walked towards the stage with his head high in the air, and didn’t get much of a response from the rest of the student body. Anyone could see that he thought most of them beneath him, and Rima sympathized somewhat. To an outsider it must have seemed like a popularity contest - which it was for the most part.

When all the Guardians had been properly introduced, Tadase took the stage and started his earnest address. All information which Rima was of course already aware off.

While Tadase jabbered on about rules and regulations Rima tried to look awake. It was tempting to glare daggers at Nadeshiko, however, she decided not to fuel the animosity any further.

After a brief eternity the meeting finished, and students were given the rest of the day free to explore campus. Classes would start the next day, or so they were told.

‘Well done everyone!’ Tsukasa smiled at them with undeserved praise. 

‘Now that the students are settled, I will give all of you a more elaborate explanation of your duties as Guardians. As some of you are aware, Seiyo now has a greater responsibility to its students than before. Therefore, the Guardians also need to provide additional guidance to their peers. Along with fulfilling added duties, we will also commence with a team building exercise today so the nine of you can get to know each other. All of you share a dorm with a fellow Guardian; the two of you are accountable for the student issues of your floor.’

______________________________________________________________________

In the spirit of solidarity Tsukasa had dragged the Guardians to an empty classroom so that they could start doing the activities he had concocted. 

Rima and Amu leaned against a desk in sore need of cleaning, together. In a matter of minutes, the senior Guardians had separated from its juniors. All of them now awaited instructions from Tsukasa in a tense atmosphere.

‘This is a total bust.’ The blond-haired girl said, whose name Rima had forgotten. ‘All of my friends are free and I have to hang around you dweebs.’ Following her admonishment, she shoved the tall boy standing next to her.

‘No one is forcing you to be here.’ Kaito? Kazuki? Said matter-of-factly. ‘I, for one, was given the option to choose whether or not I wanted the position. I accepted because I consider serving the school a great honour. If you are here to lord your Guardianship over others, I suggest you get lost.’

Accordingly the blond girl seethed in response to his words. The moment she began to argue, Tsukasa re-entered the classroom and both of them stilled. Rima could already tell Kenji and Tadase would become fast friends.

‘I hope you haven’t been unchivalrous with Ms. Hoshina, Mr. Sanjou.’ 

Chastised, Kenta hung his head in shame. Rima watched Hoshina with admiration.

Most likely related to their activities, Tsukasa had brought a box with all types of items with him. Pens, notebooks, plastic hoops, balls and glowsticks laid in a jumbled pile.

A lot of unhappy stares must have been trained in his direction, because he laughed awkwardly and scratched his head.

‘I promise it’s not all so bad. Well then, will each of you please take a chair, and make two opposite rows of four? There’ll be one spare person during this exercise.’

Puzzled, Rima followed his directions and put her chair opposite of the tall guy who exuded nonchalance. 

‘Let’s get started. Every pair has five minutes to introduce themselves and share their dream for the future.’

It surprised Rima a great deal that he wanted them to share something so personal a few minutes after having met. Although it made sense that this was Tsukasas’ idea of ‘’small talk’’ given his character.

‘One, two, three, start!’

The young man in front of her smiled as if he was ken to an incredible secret she could never manage to grasp. His posture, when he turned his head sideways and yawned boredly, reminded her of an overgrown cat.

Whereas the other Guardians had started chatting avidly, there was still no conversation between Rima and the boy whom seemed to think talking was too good for him.

Tsukasa nudged him gently, and he had the audacity to raise his eyebrows at Tsukasa.

‘What was your name again?’ Rima asked.

‘Ikuto Tsukiyomi. But you can call me whatever you like.’ He winked.

‘Right. Tsukiyomi. I’m Rima Mashiro. Call me Mashiro.’ In spite of the fact it had not been her intention to make more than one new enemy that day, she couldn’t help but be irritated by the lax demeanors of the new recruits.

The clock ticked away and they hadn’t yet shared their dream as Tsukasa had instructed.

‘You new?’ Ikuto tried lazily.

‘No, I’ve gone to this school since I was eleven.’

‘Oh. Maybe you can answer some of my questions?’

‘I don’t see why not.’ She replied defensively.

‘How strict are the teachers? Do they care if you cut class?’

The bell rang and prevented Rima from telling Ikuto to shove off. With minimal effort, he moved to sit in the chair to the left of him. Next, the austere-looking Sanjou sat in front of her.

‘Kairi Sanjou, a pleasure to meet you.’

Politely, he bowed his head slightly before reaching out his hand. Rima returned the gesture and shook his hand.

‘Rima Mashiro, likewise. Did you transfer to this school?’

‘Yes. I’ve always wanted to attend. Unfortunately, my aunt never had sufficient funds to afford the tuition. Thanks to the headmaster, I was granted a scholarship.’

As much as his communication style was similar to Tadases’ in its intensity, his composure was very business-like and lacked kindness. It was unexpected, given his age.

Desperately Rima searched for something to say.

‘Who do you room with?’ She decided on.

‘Yaya Yuiki.’

There was no other person Rima could think of more singularly unsuited to share Kairi’s company than Yaya.

‘Have you gotten a chance to talk to her yet?’

‘Yes. She seems to be a very carefree girl.’

‘That’s one way to put it.’ Rima replied sarcastically.

If the deep sigh that came from Kairi was any indication, he was already exasperated with Yaya’s behavior. 

‘Surely she’s only this energetic today since it's the first day of school?’

‘No no, not at all. Yaya is hyper every hour of every day.’

Rima felt Schadenfreude from looking at Kairi’s horrified expression.

‘Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it, the rest of us all have.’

Owing to the slight ringing of the bell, Kairi moved a chair to the left, shell-shocked by what Rima had revealed to him.

Second last was the blonde who reminded Rima a bit of Ikuto in view of her similar attitude. Be that as it may, a significant difference was that the girl was angry where Ikuto was apathetic.

‘So I guess you also want an autograph?’ She asked with a sneer.

Confused, Rima shrugged.

‘No. Why would I want that?’

Pleased with her answer, the blond smiled.

‘Good. Don’t bother me about it.’

‘Sorry, but I didn’t catch your name during orientation. I’m Rima Mashiro.’

For some reason, this genuinely caught the girl in front of her by surprise. She sat up straight and regarded her with a guarded look.

‘So you really don’t know who I am?’ The skepticism in her tone was evident.

‘Obviously not, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked for your name.’

A nostalgic smile graced her face. ‘Huh. It’s been awhile. Utau Hoshina. I’m a famous singer.’

‘Ah, that explains it. I didn’t mean to insult you, I just don’t really keep up with modern music… So I guess you’ve already achieved your dream?’

Utau waved away her concerns.

‘Yeah, you could say that. You should tell me what your dream is then.’

It wasn’t a question, nor did Utau strike Rima as the type that would put it as a question. Nevertheless, Rima saw no reason to deny her the answer.

‘I want to be a comedian.’

Expressly Utau tsk’ed with disapproval.

‘Humor is for ugly girls. Don’t be so modest, reach for the stars. You’re pretty, you could be a model or an actress.’

Although Rima felt she should have been insulted by Utau’s words, she appreciated her blatant machiavellianism.

‘But how will I make a living when I turn old and hideous?’ Rima queried.

By the stare Utau gave her, it seemed as if Rima had asked if the sky was blue.

‘Marry a rich guy, of course.’

In response, Rima made a face.

‘I would rather just die young.’

Half of the Guardians in the room startled when Utau burst out laughing. It was a much more pleasant sound than her haughty whining, Rima thought to herself. Nevertheless, she tried to refrain from judgement, as she didn’t know what Utau’s life was like after all.

‘You’re alright, Mashiro.’ Was the last thing she uttered before the round was finished.

Last and certainly least, Nadeshiko gracefully sat down in the seat in front of her.

‘I think you’ve made a friend darling.’

Rima eyed her warily. ‘Did you know she was famous?’

Nadeshiko nodded gently. ‘Her songs are played on the radio quite often.’

For a brief moment, she hummed a melody that sounded familiar to Rima.

Their eyes met, and Nadeshiko smiled when she saw recognition in Rima’s eyes. It was particular, she almost seemed like a different person compared to how she had acted before. Although she was now in a more public place, where she wanted to make a good impression. Yet another little voice in her head said that maybe Nadeshiko was not so bad, but Rima ignored it.

‘I bet I already know what your dream is.’ Rima said in a taunting tone.

Intrigued, Nadeshiko leaned forward and lowered her voice.

‘Why don’t you try me?’ She whispered.

For a reason Rima didn’t understand, she felt a cold shiver travel up her back. Meeting Nadeshikos’ challenge, she turned her head side-ways.

‘It’s to run the best dance company of Japan.’

Nadeshikos’ eyes went wide, and she stared at Rima completely astonished. This definitely meant that she had guessed correctly.

‘Am I right?’

Without using any words, Nadeshiko nodded in affirmation.

‘Now it’s your turn.’ A little courtesy would go a long way, Rima concluded.

‘I’m afraid I already overheard it when you were speaking with Ms. Hoshina.’ She shrugged, as if to apologize.

A small, venomous smirk graced her features. ‘Well, in any case, you’re practically halfway there since you act funny.’

Similar to an anguished horse, Rima’s nostrils flared with a sharp intake of breath and one of her feet came down hard on the floor.

‘Now now, calm down. That was merely my pathetic idea of a joke. I’m sure I have a lot to learn.’ Nadeshiko said with a degree of condescension.

In spite of their moment earlier, Rima felt the dislike flow back in slowly.

Tsukasa ended the exercise and had created an obstacle course of sorts in the meantime.

‘I hope you have all gotten the opportunity to have a meaningful conversation with your fellow Guardians.’

Rima wondered if the man had been in the same room as they were.

‘For the second part of our team-building activities, we will play a game focused on trust. As you can all see, there is an obstacle course. We will do four runs of the course with three teams of two and one of three. All of you will be in a team with the Guardian you share a dorm with. Tadase, you will join Amu and Ikuto. However, there is a twist. One of you will be blindfolded, and the other must guide them to the end of the course. On the way back, the positions are switched. On a stopwatch, I will time how long each team takes to complete the course. The winning team will be exempt from homework for the first month of school.’

The instant Tsukasa had told them the potential reward, new life was breathed into the room and everyone was immediately motivated to do their best. Only Kairi was disappointed by the prospect of not having to do any school work

Rima cast a look full of doubt at Nadeshiko, be that as it may, Nadeshiko looked back at her with determination. Perhaps they could agree on a simple matter such as no homework.

A fire seemed to burn in Nadeshikos’ expression, and she put her hand on Rima’s shoulder.

‘Let’s wipe the floor with them.’ Rima said confidently.

‘Indeed, let’s make them feel our wrath.’


	5. Two of a Kind

Nervously Amu twisted a stray lock of hair. She regretted not putting it up in a ponytail that morning.  
However, she’d spent the entire night putting together sets of clothes for school, and had lacked the energy to get up early and bother with her hair.

Of course it was ridiculous to bring half of her wardrobe to Seiyo. She was not an idiot, nor was she shallow.  
But it gave her a sense of control like nothing else could. If she knew what she was going to wear everyday for the entire week, then at least she had one certain element to keep her anchored in reality.

Especially when so many anxiety inducing events had happened lately. Even if she was only sixteen, she always dreaded the idea of having to live by herself, away from her family.

At times when she felt alone and unloved, they were her port in the storm. Principally her mother.

As a result of Tsukasa’s decision to integrate dormitories into the schools’ campus, she would only see her family during the weekends.

Even though she could call them on the phone, it wasn’t going to be the same. They were so far away then.

Ever since she had attended the meeting where the headmaster had told them the news, she’d lived in anguish of the day she’d no longer live in her house during the week.

Unlike some of her fellow Guardians, she appreciated Tsukasa’s efforts to make them get along. In the hope that she could come to depend on them the same way she depended on her family.

In spite of her longstanding friendship with Rima, she had often felt distant from her emotionally. Naturally Rima had told her many times about the troubles she faced at home.

Given the amount of stress she was sometimes under, it was difficult for her to be as present as Amu hoped she’d be. Not that Amu blamed her. Surely she herself would act similarly in an identical situation.

Be that as it may, she still longed for companionship that was more mutually dependant.

Regarding the current circumstances, she supposed she should count herself lucky, however, the churning of her stomach told her otherwise.

‘Don’t worry Amu.’ Tadase smiled gently. ‘You can trust us.’

Amu fought against the instinct to scoff. Et tu, Tadase? She thought cynically.

When Tsukasa had decided that she, Tadase and Ikuto be a team of three, Tadase and Ikuto had immediately decided she’d be the one who would be blindfolded while they led her through the obstacle course.

By all appearances, Tadase and Ikuto already knew each other, which had surprised Amu as they had completely contrasting personalities.

They were an unlikely pair of friends because neither of them seemed to share the same interests.

Instead of sneering at him, Amu returned Tadase’s smile somewhat uncertainly.

‘Then please take care of me.’

Tadase blushed and then inclined his head.

In preparation for the course, he offered her his hand while Ikuto wrapped the blindfold around her head.

‘Ready?’ Amu heard Tsukasa ask.

They all voiced their agreement.

‘One, two, three… Go!’

Tenderly, Tadase tugged on her hand and spoke to her in a soft tone of voice. A warmth bloomed in Amu’s heart. Additionally, she wondered if that was how he acted with girls he liked.

‘One big step to the left. Good! You’re doing great.’ 

Afterwards, Amu felt her feet hit something, and she realized she’d stepped into the second hoop. Thankfully, they had the last run, so she’d had some opportunity to study the course.

Finally, Tadase led her to the plank she was supposed to balance on.

‘Just lift up one foot now… A little more to the right… Well done. Now put the other one in front of it. And again. You’re getting there.’ By way of encouragement, he squeezed her hand softly. In his care, she felt as light as a feather drifting in the wind.

‘Excellent! When you step off the ledge, ring the bell and Ikuto will come to guide you back.’

Confident with his instructions, Amu stepped back on the floor and reached for the bell rope.

The moment her hand enclosed around the cord, she felt someone - presumably Ikuto - roughly seize her elbow.

‘Take one step. Again. And again.’ He pushed her forward without any of the sensitivity that Tadase had displayed, but he cared about winning and was much faster as a result.

‘Chair. To the left. Further left.’ 

Quickly, he boosted her up the chair by her waist and retook her elbow, edging her forward.

‘Now jump.’

Amu hesitated.

‘It’s okay. I’m here, I’ll catch you.’

Strangely she felt heat spread in her body in like manner she had felt with Tadase, but not. With Ikuto, it was thrilling. With Tadase, it was sweet.

She jumped. Ikuto caught her as promised.

Once she crossed the finish line, Ikuto pulled the blindfold of her head.

‘We’re done!’

A triumphant smile spread on Tsukasa’s face. Without checking his stopwatch, he gestured grandly.

‘See here, the winning team!’

Consequently, the three of them all smiled at each other. No other Guardians were very enthused about their victory.

‘This concludes the end of our team-building session. Great effort everyone.’ Tsukasa said encouragingly. ‘Whilst the old Guardians stay to put the classroom back in its original state, the new Guardians are free to go explore with the rest of the new students.’

Utau didn’t need to be told twice. Without much of an acknowledgement to the rest of them, she sped out of the classroom in search of greener pastures.

One by one, the other new Guardians trickled out of the room. Even Kairi left at last, after being rather thoroughly convinced by Tsukasa he didn’t need to stay to help.

Amu set to stacking the chairs back on the rows of tables in the back of the room. For a few minutes she performed the task alone, before she was joined by Tadase.

‘You did really superb today, Amu.’ He muttered sincerely.

‘I think we make a good team!’ With vigor she returned his compliment.

It appeared he was pleased with her response, and they continued to work in silence for awhile.

‘All three of us.’ She added. ‘Did the two of you know each other already?’

Tadase nodded in confirmation. ’We were… close. However, after he moved I didn’t really hear from him anymore.’

‘Oh.’

There was a sadness in the look he gave her. The emotion passed over his face briefly, nevertheless, he smiled and continued with his story.

‘In any case, Utau hasn’t changed much. Fame or no fame, she’s still the person I knew.’

‘You knew her too?’

‘They’re siblings, Ikuto and Utau.’

For reason of shock, Amu was lost for words. Upon seeing her response, Tadase laughed politely.

‘You wouldn’t think so, would you? They don’t act very kindred… On balance, I think I lost contact with them after my grandmother got sick.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay. She lived a very long life, and I was blessed to have spent the time with her that I was given.’

Wistfully, he stared out of the window. After she had finished stacking the last chair, Amu startled Tadase somewhat by putting her hand on his shoulder.

‘I’m here for you if you ever want to talk.’

A single tear rolled down Tadase’s cheek, and he took her hand in his.

‘Thank you Amu. It means a lot to me to hear you say it.’

Given the intensity with which he leveled his eyes at her, she felt as if they were alone in the room. For some reason she expected him to look away, but when he didn’t she felt herself turning red. Assuredly he smiled at her and dropped her hand.  
The rest of the day progressed in relative peace. Due to the way Tsukasa had directed them after the session had finished, Amu spent most of her free afternoon with her old friends.

At dinner, they all sat together although not everyone willingly. Notably Utau stared at all of them like a cornered animal, ready to strike.

Thus Amu carefully avoided the mistake she had made earlier by asking for an autograph, even if she did hope she would get one.

When Utau seemed preoccupied, Amu stared at her a bit before quickly looking away.

Then she prodded Rima in the side, who spit out her soup as a result.

‘What?’

‘How did you get her to be nice to you earlier?’

‘One thing you probably shouldn’t do is gawk at her like she’s a mad bull.’

Amu blushed with shame and looked down at her plate.

‘I didn’t mean it like that.’ She said, ‘I just admire her.’

Reluctantly Rima shot a gazelong at Utau and then looked back at Amu.

‘She’s probably not in the right headspace for that kind of attention. Imagine what it’s like to be her, it’s her first day at a new school, and no one wants to be her friend, they just ask for her autograph.’

Despite Amu’s doubts it was that serious, she could see the picture Rima had painted. 

‘I guess she just wants to be treated like a normal girl.’ She finished.

At the same time Amu observed Utau, she grabbed her fork obstinately and stabbed her potatoes like they’d insulted her mother.   
Before she noticed Amu looking, she hastily turned her head away for the sake of not being another victim of one of her tirades.

‘You’re right.’ Amu whispered to Rima after returning to her own meal.

The night neared with a sense of creeping finality. When darkness fell over Seiyo’s campus, Amu had to concede to the fact she’d have to start patrolling the halls.   
In addition to their vigils, for the first week of term, they were required to check if their fellow students had need of them.

Although Amu could understand perfectly well the importance of such a course of action, at that moment, she felt tired and would rather go to bed.   
Nevertheless, she stuck with her Guardian duties. She, Ikuto, Rima and Nadeshiko were supposed to take first watch.

Unfortunately, Ikuto had not taken the call of duty as seriously as she had.

After they had waited for twenty minutes for him to show up, they’d decided to start the patrol without him.

‘Ugh!’ Rima threw her hands up in frustration. During the patrol, they’d had to stop numerous times to console homesick students. This had not speeded up the process any further, notably with the initial delays.

‘What’s the point of adding all of these new chairs if none of them want to do the work!?’ She roared with vitriol.

Next to her, Nadeshiko coughed lightly. In reply, Rima just raised her chin haughtily.

‘Dear, I’m here, aren’t I? On the contrary, are all the old Guardians perfect? Of course not!’

Amu’s spidey senses told her there was a fight coming if she didn’t interrupt.

‘She’s right, Rima. This afternoon, Yaya and Kukai barely helped us tidy. They couldn’t wait to leave.’

Rima sighed and shook her head. ‘Still, this is bad. I don’t want to do this every week. When we find that dunce, I’m going to give him the tongue-lashing of a lifetime.’

Whilst Rima quietly fumed, Amu exchanged an apologetic glance with Nadeshiko, who just shrugged her shoulders and smiled awkwardly. Hell hath no fury like Rima Mashiro scorned.

Finally they’d checked on all the students, and only the roof was left on the patrol route. As they stood in front of the stairwell, Amu turned around and stopped them.

‘You guys can go to bed, I’ll do the last bit by myself. If Ikuto’s up there, I’ll talk to him. He’s my patrol partner after all.’

Regardless of Rima’s protests, Nadeshiko put her hand on Rima’s shoulder and nodded. Infuriated, Rima shrugged it off and turned back to argue.

‘It’s not fair! You shouldn’t have to do that alone.’

‘But I will, because I want to. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

With one final enraged howl, Rima turned on her heel and marched off. 

Humbly Nadeshiko smiled, and followed Rima with a trot.

When she ascended the final stairwell, she felt a lot more peaceful now that she was alone. As she reached the roof, the stars greeted her with their insurmountable brightness. The moon hung in the sky illuminating the city for her to see.

And indeed, there he was.

In the light of the moon, the expression on his face made him look years older than he actually was. It was the first time she saw him like that; so sad and pensive. He hadn’t worn those eyes once earlier when he had been surrounded by his fellow Guardians.

Naturally the moment he noticed her it slipped away, replaced by his usual mask of boredom.

‘Amu? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in bed?’ He asked without a hint of irony.

‘No, actually. You were supposed to join us for patrol today.’

‘Oh shit, sorry. I didn’t realize that was today.’ Amu couldn’t tell whether he was genuine or lying. ‘I just went here to call someone and I lost track of time.’ Upon further reflection, Amu deducted that that part had been the truth.

‘You didn’t forget, did you? It’s okay. If something else comes up, just tell us. I’m sure we can work it out somehow.’

Her response seemed to take him by surprise, as he nearly fell off the ledge he’d been sitting on. In turn, that scared the daylights out of her and she reached forward to catch him.   
Consequently, he ended up lying on the floor while she clutched her elbows.

For a brief moment, the intensity of his gaze burned right through her. Then he started to laugh, and the moment ended.

‘Don’t be so nice to me Amu.’ He smirked wickedly. ‘Next time you can just yell at me, otherwise I’ll never learn how to behave.’

She couldn’t make sense of what he meant. However, when she opened her mouth to question her, he waved her away.

‘Go to bed now. I’ll apologize to Mashiro and Fujisaki, and I’ll do it by myself next week.’

Reluctantly, she nodded and ran off.


	6. In my Time of Need

Hellbent on bullying him out of bed, the daylight shone in his face intrusively through the light-woven curtains. Yesterday had been a long day, and he did not feel like facing the present in the slightest.

As promised, after he’d finally been rid of all the ankle-biters following him around all day, he’d called his stepfather to report on his first day. Needless to say, he had not been happy with his and Utau’s Guardian assignment. Logically Ikuto’s reminder that his stepfather was the one whom had pushed them accept it in the first place did not go over well. The cherry on top of the pie that he was forced to share his living space with a girl that had stars in her eyes every time she looked at him, and not Utau like Tsukasa had pledged.

All of that would come to an end today if Ikuto had anything to do with it. If Tsukasa wanted the two of them at his school, he’d better fall in line.

He was in the middle of pondering whether or not he would attend first period that day, when he heard a tentative knock at his door.

‘Are you up? I’m heading down to breakfast in a few minutes.’

With a groan worthy of hangover, Ikuto dragged himself out of bed and opened the door.

‘You’re still in your pajamas!’ She exclaimed, pointing out the obvious.

‘Do you like them?’ Ikuto winked at her and she started to sputter. Saving her from her embarrassment, he interrupted her. ‘Give me two minutes.’

He closed the door, picked his uniform off the floor and shrugged into it with defiance.

After that point, the morning just dragged on and on and on. Seemingly, Amu had taken his friendliness from the night before as an indication that he wanted to listen to her incessant chatter.

‘The first night wasn’t all bad!’ She said as they walked from the dorms to the main building. ‘I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep, so far away from home, but I was so tired I fell asleep immediately.’

Bemused, Ikuto engaged her flight of fancy. ‘Eh.’ He said. ‘I’ve had better. It gets lonely, all by myself… All though, maybe you could remedy that someday?’

Confident from the expression on her face that his words had shut her up for the time being, he sped off toward the dining hall, hoping to catch Utau before she sat down at the table.

As luck would have it, she came through the doorway mere seconds after he had arrived. He grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her into the buildings’ antechambers.

‘Ikuto, fuck!’ She cursed. ‘You scared me! I don’t know what kind of creeps are lurking here yet, so can you please keep the pulling to a minimum?’

He winced apologetically. ‘Sorry. You’ve got this creep on your side at least.’

At his joke she showed her first real smile he had seen since they’d arrived at Seiyo.

‘Speaking of creeps…’ He carried on. ‘How’s that Souma kid? Has he bothered you?’

‘Not more than they usually do.’ She tried to appear cold, but he could tell it irritated her.

Once again, he damned Tsukasa for separating them.

‘Don’t worry about it sis. I’ll speak to him today and make him switch.’

Cynically she scoffed at him.

‘When has that ever worked before, Ikuto? Whatever his reasoning, I doubt you’ll convince him. You can try, but don’t expect things to change.’

Briefly, she hesitated, wanting to say something else. Nevertheless, she stilled and turned around. 

‘I’ll see you at lunch.’ She finally called over her shoulder after making her way out of the antechamber.

When she left, it came to him that he had another out to not attend class today. However, he knew that if he wanted Tsukasa to do something for him, cutting class was not an option.

Irritated, he went in the same direction Utau had left in and made his way to the dining hall.

As he entered the dining hall, he immediately saw Amu cower at the Guardians table, and he felt a pang of guilt in his chest.

Resolving to treat her with more kindness, he plopped into the seat opposite of her, earning a raised eyebrow from Utau at the other end of the table.

‘Amu, what I said before, it was just a joke.’

A relieved sigh came from Amu and Ikuto felt shame hit him like a tidal wave.

He groaned loudly and rubbed his face with his hand.

‘Listen, I change my advice that I gave you yesterday. Don’t yell at me. Hit me. Kick me. Anything that makes you feel better.’

For some reason, Amu just smiled at him serenely and slowly shook her head.

‘No, I couldn’t do that to you. Besides, it’s much better if you come to your own conclusions and atone for your behavior yourself.’ She said sagely.

Impressed, Ikuto whistled through his teeth. He never thought a fifteen-year-old would impart some wisdom to him, but stranger things had happened. He said as much.

‘You’re pretty wise for a twelve-year old.’

Upon hearing this, Amu’s face flashed beet-red with anger.

‘I’m sixteen!’

He eyed her skeptically. ‘Really? You’re the same age as my baby sister?’ Intentionally he said the words quite loudly, and he dodged a piece of toast that went soaring in his direction as a result.

It hit the green-haired twerp next to him square in the face. Positively irate, he stood up and soldiered to the other end of the table. Therefore, he felt his protector mode kick in, and he grabbed the little urchin by the elbow.

‘It was my fault. I apologize. Please, sit down and finish breakfast. It’s only morning, don’t cause a scene.’ The first excuses he could think of he said to the boy in order to calm him down, and then he patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. Begrudgingly, the imp sat down again and resumed eating.

After the debacle had been sorted, he shot Utau a dirty look whilst she stuck out her tongue at him.

Amu, the pesky wench, seemed humored by the display.

‘It’s hard to believe the two of you are related.’

‘Or does it make perfect sense?’

Initially, Amu just snorted in reaction. Then she seemed to ponder his words.

‘Maybe for you somehow. but I get along with my sister very well.’

‘Didn’t know you had one. Is she at Seiyo as well?’

Melancholy showed in her expression, as she appeared to remember an event.

‘No. She used to be, but she wanted to stay at home so she transferred. I miss her a lot.’

That feeling he could certainly understand.

‘I’m sorry. What’s her name?’

‘Ami.’

He decided it was polite to make at least a small effort not to laugh. Clearly Amu had realized, as she sighed and shook her shoulders.

‘You can laugh, it’s fine. I realized that my parents were crazy a long time ago.’

At her instruction, he smiled mischievously. An idea arose in his mind that made him chuckle more.

‘What?’ She asked slightly angered.

‘If your folks had two more sons, they could’ve named ‘em Amo and Ama.’

Insolently, Amu opened her mouth to argue, but turned with a face of betrayal when she heard giggles down the table.

Happy to have reached a state of relative truce with his roommate, he tried to thrive on the feeling of satisfaction it gave him as he suffered through the rest of his classes. Seriously, it was almost as if the teachers were trying to be as dull as possible. Apparently, they hadn’t gotten the memo that they weren’t teaching toddlers that day. There was nothing that irritated him more than wasting time listening to empty-headed adults lecture.

After an eternity of lethargy, the bell ultimately rang after the last period of the day. Before anyone could stop him, he raced out and headed in the direction of Tsukasa’s office. Anxiously he knocked on the door and paced backwards and forwards.

‘Ikuto!’ Unfortunately, Tsukasa hadn’t been his in office and surprised him when he walked around the corner, catching him in his antics.

‘Tsukasa.’ He tried to keep the warmth out of his voice, however, he failed miserably.

‘How do you like my school?’

With practised ease, he slid his disinterested expression back on, and he shrugged.

‘It’s just like the one I was at before.’ Normalcy, he knew, would insult Tsukasa the most. If anything, he hated being ordinary.

‘I see.’ A faint twitch around his mouth told Ikuto that he’d hit a nerve.

‘There was something I wanted to talk to you about.’

‘Oh?’

Not wanting it to sound like an accusation, Ikuto took a steadying breath before speaking.

‘The dorm arrangements.’ He took another breath. ‘Utau would prefer to share with me, rather than with anyone else.’

Clearly not wanting to respond, Tsukasa chose to let silence linger between them for a few seconds. With each increasing moment, it was more challenging for Ikuto to keep his temper in check. He‘d known the headmaster for years. Because of their bond, Tsukasa tended to make decisions for him and his sister alike the other adults that he knew. All they wanted was to be treated fairly, nevertheless, even the people they trusted the most let him down in that regard.

To rouse Tsukasa from his musings, Ikuto coughed loudly.

‘While you reside at Seiyo, you are at school, and the school is ultimately responsible for both of you.‘

Where Ikuto was concerned, he might as well have spoken a forgein language.

‘So?‘ He asked.

‘So the burden of protection of Utau‘s wellbeing falls to the school, not to you.‘

It was the worst, most idiotic answer he could have given.

‘Be serious. If her fans harass her here, what can you or any teacher possibly do?‘

By looking at his expression, Ikuto could tell the headmaster was not pleased by his response.

‘I can assure you, Ikuto, that there are machinations in place to guarantee Utau‘s protection.‘ He paused. ‘Additionally, in spite of the fact that the two of you are siblings, your sole function is not her protection.‘ His tone softened somewhat.

‘Please, just make the most of the time you have here.‘

Taken aback by his sudden boat of sincerity, Ikuto scowled. Tsukasa reached and grasped his shoulder.

‘Try it. I promise you that if the situation changes and you are under the impression that Utau is any danger at all, I will change her lodgings immediately.‘

Satisfied with Tsukasa‘s assurance, he returned his gesture and patted him on the shoulder. However, before he could have kittens, he grimaced and walked off.


	7. Calm Before the Storm

So far, during third period English, Rima had tapped her foot to the back leg of her chair more than forty times.

And finally the work was where she struggled the most, and therefore it came accompanied by near unending pencil chewing.

Third period was a nightmare.

It almost made Nadeshiko wish she hadn’t transferred, however, she and Rima only had one class together every two days, and that provided much needed relief.

Other moments, such as in the dorms, were tedious and confusing. They had argued over very minor things, which was very unlike Nadeshiko. And it scared her.

A voice in the back of her mind was determined to pester Rima no matter what. It laid in wait, rearing its ugly head with tiny observations to push her further. Had her eyebrows knitted together in an angry fashion? Had she narrowed her eyes with disgust and derision? 

Needless to say, they had combustible chemistry. But the strange kind of fascination Nadeshiko felt at watching Rima work herself into a frenzy was worrying.

She was interrupted from her reverie when she heard the aggravating sound of nails scratching paper.

‘If you don’t understand the text, ask the teacher to explain it to you .’She supplied helpfully.

A haughty look was her reward. Rima jerked her head to the side slightly, and Nadeshiko realized they were entering the danger zone. She wracked her brain for a reason Rima might be upset at her this time around.

’I understand it fine. It’s just that… It’s boring me to pieces.’

When she spoke, her eyes were slightly averted, and her mouth twitched. Briefly she glanced towards the door. It was a badly executed lie if Nadeshiko had ever seen one.

Her face, full of defiance, was trained in Nadeshikos’ direction. Slowly it was eroding the utmost limits of Nadeshikos’ patience.

The proudest Fujisaki, her mother, had always taught her to treat others with kindness, and to have humility when confronted with conflict.

This supposed ’friendship’ with Rima was testing those values like no one before ever had.

’Very well.’ Contemplatively, she looked outside the window for a moment. ’I can also offer some assistance if you’re having trouble?’

More disgruntled anger than Nadeshiko thought possible showed on Rima’s face. Then, however, it fell and she blushed with shame. Anxiously she rotated her pencil in her hands.

’I don’t want to trouble you with it… Really, I just need more time.’

With guilt, Nadeshiko winced. Nevertheless, she was in no mood to listen to Rima chew on her pencil for another twenty minutes. Hence she resolved to convince Rima to let her help.

’Two minds are better than one.’ She argued. ’Can you slide your notebook over to my desk?’

Consequently, Rima moved her chair closer to Nadeshikos’ with her notebook in her hand. The reluctance was as clear as a bell in her expression, and Nadeshiko wondered what had made her so defensive when it came to receiving support from others. Be that as it may, Nadeshiko felt her motivation to lend her a hand up a notch.

She directed her most gentle smile at Rima with a fiery determination.

’Can you please show me which question you were having trouble with?’ 

In response Rima pointed at one of her scribbles silently. Briefly, her hand brushed over Rimas’ and she felt her heart leap in her throat. With some confusion she took a steadying breath.

’Alright. I’m positive the answer is in the notes I took during the lecture.’ After rummaging through her bag for a few minutes, she fished out her notebook.

The cover of the notebook reflected the light of the fluorescent lamps as Nadeshiko laid it out on the desk. Neat curls and loops graced its pages and the dots lining the margins were perfect circles.

After searching for a few minutes, she reached the intended page with ease.

’There.’ She said victoriously. ’This should be enough to answer the question.’

As Rima read the text, comprehension shone in her eyes. A smile, barely visible, lurked at the corners of her lips and eyes. It grew into maturity when Rima regarded Nadeshiko with an open expression.

’Thanks.’ 

The breath was knocked out of Nadeshiko and her heart beat viciously.

’The pleasure’s all mine darling.’ Was all she could manage.

Something about her reply antagonized Rima, however, she let it go and continued to work. In the aftermath, Nadeshiko wondered what the trouble between them was.

All in all, it was one of their best days. The first one had been plagued by strife and uncertainty and Nadeshiko had wondered how she would survive until the weekend. Now it was quiet, but the sword of Damocles loomed above their heads. Above Nadeshikos’ head in particular.

A shudder went down her back and cold dread filled her veins. Choosing to put it out of her thoughts, she turned back into the headmasters’ address. The man, whom had suddenly interrupted them at the end of dinner, remained somewhat of an enigma.

Half of the time he regarded them, he had a faraway look in his eyes, as if he were thinking on much more serious matters. To all it appeared he was quite disorganized. Often, when he spoke with the Guardians, he managed to forget to mention significant details of the duties they were supposed to perform. One of his more serious faults was his tendency to announce events too short before they were scheduled, and this left many others, Nadeshiko included, with little to no time to process them.

The latter seemed to be the case as of the present. 

’Tomorrow, to celebrate the end of a successful first week, We’ll have a sports tournament.’

Reactions were mixed. Others groaned with disapproval, while some whooped with excitement.

’Good night everyone!’ With a joy in his step, he left the stage, unaware of the problems he had caused. Idly Nadeshiko envied the way he moved through his life.

Next her, Amu smiled happily, while Rima groaned miserably. 

’No classes tomorrow!’ 

Testy, Rima turned to glare at Amu.

’Hey, I’m just saying. I would rather kick a ball around than sit inside all day.’

’Well, I’d rather have classes than get hit in the face by a ball.’

A few seats further, Kukai blushed and scratched his head.

’That only happened once!’ Amu jumped to his defense.

’The chance of it happening again is significantly reduced by not playing any sports.’

‘I’m pretty sure Tsukasa said participation was mandatory.’

With theatrical dramatics, Rima shook her hands in the air and mashed her face into her plate.

Consequently Nadeshiko watched her with an upturned mouth and eyes full of bemusement. At first she hesitated, but then she reached out and brushed Rima’s head.

‘Don’t worry yourself so much dear. I’m very good at athletics, and I’ll do my best to support you.’

Forthwith Rima stirred and slowly turned in Nadeshikos’ direction. Narrowed eyes scrutinized her and an expression of definite disbelief overtook Rimas’ features.

‘Will you? I suppose if you can’t help yourself, you should know that I’m terrible. I repeat, I am terrible. Even if the best person in the school played on my team, they couldn’t save the team from my mistakes.’ She deadpanned.

Next to her, Amu snorted water out of her nose after bursting out laughing.

Without missing a blink, Rima handed her a tissue paper and raised her eyebrows at Nadeshiko.

‘Now, now, it can’t be all bad. Surely you prefer one sport over another? There must be one that you like the best.’

‘Oh no, I detest them all equally.’

Her voluminous curls bounced to the side as she whipped them on her back in order to eat dinner without her hair in her face. Nadeshiko stared for a second, slightly mesmerized.

‘Well, in any case,’ She began, ‘I’ll try to make up for your faults to the best of my ability, should we be paired together.’

The thinness of her lips stood out in sharp relief as she frowned and then scowled at Nadeshiko. No amends were made, but rather polite giggles were returned that Amu joined in with.


	8. Game, Set, Match

The ball flew past, narrowly avoiding her head. It whizzed in the direction of the goal. Distantly, Rima was aware of someone calling her name and she set her feet to run in the direction of the ball as fast as she could. The goalie, a girl from the same grade as Rima named Wakana, trembled with fear while the midfielder from the other team rapidly approached.

‘Advance, Wakana! Advance!’ A voice yelled in the distance. However, it was too late.

With a wicked, confident smirk, the midfielder kicked the ball high over Wakana’s head and into the goal. Shamed Wakana put the goalie gloves over her face. Not long after the referee blew the whistle.

Stones settled themselves into Rimas‘ stomach and she heaved dry air. She edged towards a shadow cast on the field by the main building and felt ice in her veins. On the contrary, the referee and some of the players were dripping with sweat. Therefore a water break was called.

Nadeshiko, who had naturally been selected as team captain, called all the girls into a huddle. 

‘Well played everyone!’ She said in a sickly sweet voice that grated on Rimas’ nerves. ‘The score is tied.’

Surely Nadeshiko was aware that they could all see the scoreboard. In fact, the score had been the main focus for the better part of the game. Nevertheless, her tone implied that they should all pay more attention to it. 

‘I believe we can still win the match.’ Nadeshiko started hopefully. ‘However, Wakana,’ -all eyes were immediately trained in her direction. ‘I don’t presume you don’t feel very comfortable as a goalie.’

Even Rima knew that during amateur matches, the worst player was always put in the goal. Generally Nadeshikos’ strategy consisted of launching as many attacks as possible and wearing down the opposing teams’ defence. For the most part it had worked, to the surprise of many, however, it left their own defence rather understaffed. 

Amu and Nadeshiko were a well-oiled goal-scoring machine on the field, regardless, they could not substitute every position.

This left the rest of the team in an awkward arrangement.

With visible dread Rima anticipated Nadeshikos’ instructions.

Avidly Wakana nodded.

‘I find it very frightening.’ She confessed. ‘Whenever I see the ball approaching, I tense and completely freeze up.’

Sympathetic glances were exchanged. An earnestness came over Nadeshiko and her eyes briefly darted in Rimas’ direction. Oh no.

‘For the remainder of the match, which is only about fifteen minutes, I suggest Rima takes over the position.’

Encouraging words and looks were given to her from Amu and Nadeshiko, even so, they couldn’t convince Rima to sacrifice herself for the sake of the team.

Be that as it may, the moment she dared steal a peek at Wakana and saw her absolutely terrified expression, she realized she couldn’t do it to her. The two of them might share the same sentiments, but Wakana had gotten the short end of the stick.

‘You know what, fine. I’ll do it.’

Everyone in the team seemed to be happy after hearing her proclamation, and that almost made it worth it.

Before the referee would blow the whistle again and resume the chaos, Nadeshiko beckoned Rima over.

From what Rima could gather, the way she moved indicated Rima was about to get some pure-hearted encouragement, which she was not in the mood for.

‘Between you and me, if they get past the first-line of defence, the chance is high they’ll score.’ Rimas’ eyebrows shot into her hairline. Was Nadeshiko giving it to her straight? This was simply unprecedented.

‘But you can ruin that opportunity and hold them off long enough for me to get there, if. You. Just. Advance.’ Each word of the latter sentence was punctuated by a motion of her hands. ‘Strength in numbers. No matter how clumsy you and Wakana might be, if the lot of you swarm one attacker they’ll have a hard time scoring.’

Her shoulders slouched and a determined fire burned in her eyes. Never before had Nadeshiko displayed that kind of passion in front of Rima. A vision of Nadeshikos’ true self appeared in Rimas’ minds’ eye, and it filled her with an unusual warmth.

Remembering herself, Nadeshikos’ eyes shifted to and fro.

‘Sorry.’ She said sheepishly. ‘I just-’

‘It’s okay.’ Rima cut her off. ‘I appreciate your advice. Anything else I should know?’

The ardor was quickly replaced by a sweet smile in a practised motion. The mask was back on.

‘Of course the most important aspect is enjoyment. Whether it will be a win or a loss, participation-’

Once again, Rima interrupted her.

‘Screw that, let’s make mincemeat of them.’

Taken aback by her response, Nadeshiko eyes widened. Then her fervor was reignited. 

‘Yes. We will crush them. Don’t be afraid to fight dirty. Remember, if the ref doesn’t call it, it’s not a foul.’

Hearing the coldness in her tone sent a wicked thrill down Rimas’ spine, and she nodded zealously.

Finally, now that she understood what Nadeshiko wanted from her, she could relax. Her wavering behavior of the past few days had nearly sent Rima into a nervous panic. Fight dirty, she had said. That Rima could do.

The referee blew the whistle again to indicate the end of the water break. Wakana approached her with a smile plastered on her face in an effort to hide her guilt. Wordlessly they exchanged the gloves and departed with solemness.

The whistle was blown a second time, and the game resumed.

Amu quickly seized the ball and moved in the direction of the other teams’ goal. Using a one-two pass, Nadeshiko and Amu moved fluidly past the other players.

Graceful and deadly, a dancer was hidden in each of Nadeshikos’ movements. The efficacy in her playing style was mind-blowing; she flew past other players like water flowing past stone.

When they had dispatched the enemies’ defense, Amu took a shot at the goal.

Evidently the other team had applied the same strategy that they had, and thus a weaker player manned the goal. An admirable effort was made at a dive, but far too late.

With a steep curve Amu kicked the ball and scored.

From her position in the goal, Rima jumped into the air with her hands skywards to encourage the other players.

Ten minutes left on the clock, and they were one point ahead.

In accordance with the rules of the game, the other team were given a free-kick on the halfway line. One of the competent players of the other team jumped on the ball like a girl possessed, and punted it in the direction of their six-yard line.

To the left of Rima, Wakana started to shake as the other player neared. Several girls attempted to tackle her without success.

‘Wakana.’ Rima hissed.

‘What?!’ Her eyes were wild with panic.

‘Make a run for it.’

While Wakana approached the opposing player, Rima shifted closer albeit with less noise. Predictably, the attacker got past her rather easily. Rima, however, presented more of a challenge.

Preventing her from making a nutmeg, Rima pretended to seize it from her whilst actually delivering a small kick to her ankles. The delay in her response allowed Rima to move the ball away from the goal while holding the other player off with her arm. Struggling to keep it from her, she was tempted to kick her in the shins from behind, but could not as the referee was watching.

All the other players, with the exception of Nadeshiko and Amu, seemed to be frozen in place.

‘Hey!’ Rima yelled harder than strictly necessary in order to throw the opposing player off. ‘A little help!’

Now they all swarmed in her direction. Wakana, having learnt from her earlier faults, defended the goal along with two other girls.

In spite of her exertions, the attacking player from the other team far out ranked her in terms of skill. Finally retaking the ball, she turned in the direction of the goal.

Yelping loudly, Rima tackled the girl in a desperate attempt to keep her from scoring.

She waited for the referee to blow the whistle, marking a foul. When it didn’t happen, she passed the ball to Nadeshiko who was rapidly propeling towards her.

In the blink of an eye, a boyish grin rested on Nadeshikos’ face as she trapped the ball. Afterwards, she and Amu sprinted away to make a counter attack. Given the other half of the field was nearly empty, they had very little trouble getting close enough to take a shot at the goal.

But before they had a chance to, the referee blew the whistle indicating the end of the game.

Cheers and grumbles were heard across the field. A number of players stormed her, and before she realized, she was trapped in an embrace that encompassed the entire team.

Later, the three friends sat by the wayside as the next match took place. A well deserved rest, considering they were all exhausted. 

Players flashed in her vision; bodies drenched in sweat and eyes screwed shut in concentration. It was a spectacle to watch. Rima could understand why people she knew liked to watch the sport. She herself however, liked neither watching nor playing.

Additionally, viewing it without the stress of an imminent attack was sort of fun by a stretch of the imagination. A ruthless red-haired player was the most prominent presence in one of the teams. The skill and ease that she utilized to pass by other players was impressive.

Nevertheless, as she advanced towards the goal, none of her teammates ran along to assist her. As a result, when three defenders pounced on her she lost the ball, and the attempt failed.

In response she cursed and angrily instructed the defenders of her team to ‘start running’.

From their place on the sidelines Nadeshiko tsk’ed and shook her head in disapproval. 

‘Good heavens! With that attitude, they’ll lose all of their matches.’

Rima turned her head in Nadeshikos’ direction and quirked her eyebrows.

‘Do you think it’s important to be a team player?’

‘Why of course! A match is like a battle. A general that is reckless will lead his men to destruction and a hasty temper is prone to insults. Such faults can cost the entire team the game.’

‘I didn’t realize you knew so much about it.’

Nadeshiko flushed red.

‘Not at all. It is merely common sense.’

After she finished speaking, she quickly looked away. If Rima didn’t know any better, she would have guessed she’d accused Nadeshiko of wrongdoing.

Ultimately, Nadeshikos’ prediction came true and the team led by the red-haired attacker lost.

The moment the referee blew on the whistle Rima raised her arms skywards.

‘We are free! No more football!’

Amu giggled with glee whereas Nadeshiko tutted. Although Rima saw the corners of her mouth curve in a half-smile.

‘So we’re not playing the finale?’ Amu inquired.

Accordingly Nadeshiko grimaced. ‘Unfortunately, no. Other teams scored more goals than we did.’

‘Oh, I see.’

‘Is that a frown I see? Dearie, why does that upset you?’ Her tone annoyed Rima.

Amu looked away.

‘We’ve had so much fun today, together.’ She briefly glanced at Rima and Nadeshiko. ‘And now we won’t see each other for the entire weekend.’

‘I don’t see why we can’t.’ Rima said.

‘In that case, let’s all meet up on Sunday!’ Amu exclaimed with excitement.

In spite of the fact that Amu had obviously included her in the invitation, Rima felt a pang of jealousy. Because she had to share Amu, her oldest friend, with Nadeshiko, whom they had both known for a grand total of four days.

Even so, Nadeshiko smiled with genuine joy and nodded to Amu. The display softened Rimas’ heart and she saw through her haze of agitation. Perhaps Nadeshiko was like she had been once. Solitary, isolated and without friends. Nevertheless, she didn’t know if her temper could bear having to split Amus’ attention with her.

She grabbed Amus’ arm possessively.

‘Must we?’ Rima whined.

A mirthful laugh was her reply.

‘I know you like to laze around on the weekends, but wouldn’t it be nice to get to know Nadeshiko outside of school?’

Clearly Amu had misunderstood Rimas’ true intentions, regardless, When Rima saw the hopeful look on Nadeshikos’ face she couldn’t bring herself to say no.

‘Alright then.’ She begrudgingly agreed.

‘Wonderful!’ Nadeshiko clapped her hands. ‘Close to our estate, there is a lovely café where you must come for tea. There is also a park nearby that has a merry-go-around.’

A traiterious voice in Rimas’ whispered that it would be loads of fun. That is, if by miracle her parents would allow her to go.

‘I’ll try to guilt my dad into it. He’s been real apologetic lately, shouldn’t be a problem.’


	9. Love Wins

‘Absolutely not.’

Well, that hadn’t worked out remotely the way she had wanted it to, however, it was what she had expected.

‘But-’

‘I said no. We haven’t seen you all week, and now you want to spend Sunday with your friends?’

There was no denying he had a point. Regardless, before Seiyo had been a boarding school they hadn’t allowed her out either, always saying to just wait one more year. Wasn’t fifteen old enough? Didn’t most fifteen-year-olds go out to see their friends by themselves?

‘Dad,-’

‘Didn’t you hear me?’

With every word her patience wore thinner. For Pete’s sake, he wouldn’t even hear her out!

‘At least listen to what I have to say.’

Although his face indicated he was about to blow up, reason came to him and he calmed down. Evidently the fact he hadn’t seen her for five days motivated him to stay aimable.

‘Have your say then.’

Rima said a silent prayer before she continued to state her case.

‘While it is true that I was planning to go see one friend of mine that I've known for a long time, we also invited another girl, who happens to share my dorm.’

Her father said nothing but frowned, and his bushy eyebrows knitted together.

‘The two of us…’ Rima paused, unsure of how to continue without incriminating herself. ‘Didn’t get along so great in the beginning.’ Understatement of the century. ‘And owing to that, I didn’t feel comfortable, and I slept badly.’

Apparently it hadn’t been as solid a plan as Rima thought given her father turned purple and was sputtering. Preventing an angry rant, Rima continued rapidly.

‘I was to blame as well. However, today, during the football match, we were a great team. If I could just see her for a couple hours on Sunday, it would help me relax at school.’

Her father winced, but remained silent. As he turned the corner, he seemed to be turning over her words in his mind as well.

The tension was unbearable for Rima. While the cloud of strain continued to build amongst the two of them, Rima bit her nails to relieve some of her anxiety. She was afraid they would continue the entire car ride in the same manner, until he suddenly pulled over to the side of the road. 

Fearing the worst, she braced herself by digging her nails into the skirt of her uniform.

However, when she looked at him, she noticed the anger in his expression vanish, and his wild eyebrows rested at ease over his eyes.

‘You are not a child anymore. Your mother and I know that.’ He paused for a moment, and looked out the window. ‘But you need to understand that your safety should take precedence over any other matter.’

And there it was. Rima waited with bated breath for the rejection.

‘Nevertheless, in the not too distant future, you’ll have to enter the world as an adult yourself. It scares me, even so, I- we can’t protect you forever.’

A bright beacon of hope settled itself inside of Rima’s heart.

‘You can go. But we’ll drive you there and back.’

After all those years, she couldn’t believe Nadeshiko was the key element that had helped her father suddenly change his mind. In hindsight, it almost made all the antagonism of the past week worth it. 

The moment the sun broke through the clouds, the weight of stress fell off her and she felt alight with joy. Mindful to seem too pleased, she smiled moderately.

‘Thank you. I promise I’ll try to act as responsible as I possibly can.’

‘Well in that case, I take it back.’ Her father laughed crookedly.

Being on the receiving end of a Mashiro family-style joke, Rima promptly understood why some people couldn’t appreciate her humor. In pretend anger she swatted him on the arm and giggled slightly.

____________________________________________________________________

In a crowd of people all spending the day in the park, a flash of purple announced Nadeshiko’s presence. After scanning the scenery for a good ten minutes, Rima was happy to have finally found her.

‘There!’ she exclaimed victoriously and wrenched her hands loose from her mothers’ grip.

Accordingly, Nadeshiko turned her head and her violet hair whipped about like a whale flapping its tail. As she saw Rima approach, a rehearsed smile graced her face that didn’t reach her eyes.

‘Mom, this is Nadeshiko.’ She gestured her arms between them somewhat wildly.

‘It’s an honour to meet you, Ms. Mashiro.’ Nadeshiko bowed slightly. ‘My name is Nadeshiko Fujisaki.’

Her mother watched Nadeshiko with detached indifference.

‘Likewise.’ She replied. ‘I will come to pick Rima up in three hours. You girls have fun now.’

Without looking back, her mother turned and walked towards her parked car. Puzzled, Nadeshiko followed her with her gaze.

‘So I guess Amu isn’t here yet?’

Nadeshiko shook her head in confirmation. 

‘She said on the phone that she would meet us at the café. Shall we head in that direction?’

‘Sure.’

Spring neared with unavoidable clarity. Hints of new life were planted across the grounds. All the trees had small buds that would soon become beautiful flowers, and birds were coupling up to spawn offspring. They were not the only ones who had heard the call of the coming season, because the park was busy with families, friends and young couples.

Rima tugged on Nadeshikos’ sleeve.

‘Look!’ she whispered. Surprisingly, Nadeshikos’ cheeks were slightly tinted pink, but she followed her gaze nevertheless, and smiled as she saw two ducks constructing a nest together.

‘How endearing.’ 

‘Well, maybe now. But have you seen the way that ducks mate? It’s very-’

Both of them stared in stunned silence when Amu sped by on her bike and crashed head first into the pavement. Immediate panic kicked in and Rima ran over to her.

‘Are you okay?!’ In response, Amu groaned and rubbed her forehead but appeared otherwise unharmed.

‘Mfine.’ She emitted an annoyed sigh and picked up her bike from where it lay abandoned on the street. It rattled in protest and Amu gave it a kick for good measure.

A look of equal concern and astonishment rested on Nadeshiko's features as she approached the two of them.

‘That was quite a fall. You’re sure you’re unharmed?’ Worry bled through, and her fine eyebrows frowned with apprehension.

‘Yeah.’ Amu grinned. ‘Happens all the time.’

In sympathy Rima rubbed Amus’ shoulders. ‘The hills in this town are a complete bitch, pardon my french.’

When Amu and Rimas’ eyes met they both burst out laughing, although Nadeshiko still regarded them with a great deal of confusion. While stifling giggles, Amu managed to pull herself up and caught Nadeshiko by her wrist.

To ease her distress, Amu flashed Nadeshiko a reassuring smile. Jealousy raged inside Rimas’ soul like a caged beast.

‘Don’t worry.’ A tender light shone in Amus’ eyes. ‘We’re a little crazy, you’ll get used to it.’

A conspiratory smirk made its way onto Amus’ features that she and Rima briefly shared. The small gesture reassured Rima and the angry voice that shrieked inside her mind calmed down. 

As a result of her small fit of internal anger, she almost missed the way Nadeshiko looked at Amu, but not quite.

Her pupils were dilated and her eyes wided; a small blush rested on her cheekbones like a kiss from a rose. In spite of Rimas’ own inexperience, she’d seen that same look many times. Expect it had been on Amus’ face, when speaking to Tadase, her admirer.

Before she had time to properly process this revelation, Nadeshiko gently detached her arm from Amus’ hand and clapped hers together.

‘Well, I suppose I will. Eventually.’ She shifted back and forth on her feet in a manner that was entirely different compared to her regular decorum. ‘Shall we make our way to the bistro?’

Rima didn’t know what that word meant, but Amu seemed to get it. Upon Amus’ initiative, the three of them linked arms with Amu to Rimas’ left and Nadeshiko to her right.

It could have been her imagination, but Rima could swear she heard Nadeshiko let out a small breath of relief as she cheerfully linked her arm with Rimas’.

Whereas she had been enjoying the scenery with Nadeshiko before Amus’ arrival, now she couldn’t focus even while Amu rattled on about how beautiful the park was. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the moment when Amu had held Nadeshikos’ hand.

Was Nadeshiko gay? Rima wrecked her brain, nevertheless, she couldn’t remember a single moment that had hinted at Nadeshikos’ interest in the same sex. Be that as it may, if Nadeshiko were a lesbian, why hadn’t she told them?

Perhaps that was why she had been so on edge all week. That had to be it.

Without a doubt it had to be related to her family. A family that was so entrenched with traditional Japanese dance might also be conservative in morals.

Suddenly she felt an unwelcome wave of empathy for Nadeshiko wash over her. It had to be so painful to constantly hide her true self from everyone. Under threat of losing her family nonetheless.

She chanced a small gaze at Nadeshiko. Maybe Rima had to be the bigger person. Stranger things had happened, like Amu arriving somewhere in one piece, Yaya sitting through English without goofing off, or pigs flying.

Resolving to interrogate Nadeshiko on the issue, Rima gave her an evil little smirk.

Unintimidated Nadeshiko raised an eyebrow at her.

‘There it is!’ Amu exclaimed victoriously.

It looked exactly like the kind of place Nadeshiko would suggest, Rima thought with disdain. 

Far too fancy for Rima’s family; they’d only hit up the local ramen spot on occasion. The building was halfway surrounded by trees, cloaking part of it in shadow. The top roof and walls were made entirely out of glass. However, the porch, which surrounded the restaurant at all sides, was covered by a half gable roof. Exquisite flowers bloomed on the overhang. 

In front of the entrance a single waitress was smoking a cigarette apathetically. Until she met their gazes, she didn’t acknowledge them but simply stared off into the distance. By the time she spoke to one of them, her eyes had glazed over with disinterest.

‘Welcome to Sud Parc Café. How can I assist you today?’ The words lacked the necessary intonation for them to be meaningful, and instead sounded empty.

Nadeshiko was the perfect polar opposite. With a bright smile and a cheerful tone she replied.

‘Good day, How do you fare? We require a table for three please.’

A slight eye-roll was what she got in return. Nevertheless, the waitress moved from her spot and beckoned them to follow her. She moved past the tables fast, and thus Rima had a hard time keeping up.

By the time she had seated them at a booth inside a solarium, Rima was out of breath and rested her head against the green chesterfield-style couches gratefully.

Nadeshiko watched her in slight amusement.

Both of them startled when Amus’ phone rang.

Hastily, she checked the caller-id and her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

‘I should take this.’ She muttered to them.

Neither Rima nor Nadeshiko protested and therefore Amu sped off with her phone in her hands.

It was hard to miss the brief expression of longing that graced Nadeshiko’s face as she saw Amu run off. Rima didn’t know how long Amu would be gone, be that as it may, her lips burned to ask Nadeshiko questions to confirm her suspicions.

For a short while, she observed Nadeshiko with attentive scrutiny. Of course she noticed and simply cocked her head and wiggled her eyebrows.

‘Rima dear, are you trying to burn a gap in my forehead?’ the words were said in jest, but the underlying tone issued a warning.

‘Nadeshiko, do you like Amu?’

During the shortest of moments Nadeshiko’s eyes flashed with surprise and a blush crept up her nose, until she schooled her face back into careful neutrality.

‘Amu has been a true friend.’ The answer might as well have come from a politician.

Rima let out an annoyed sigh.

‘Nadeshiko, look, you know that’s not what I mean… Maybe we haven’t been the chummiest this past week, but regardless, you should know that we support you. If you like girls, that’s okay. And if you like Amu, that’s okay too. No matter how much I don’t want to share her with you.’

Pain slowly showed in Nadeshiko’s body language like she was being strangled by a snake.

‘It’s really not like that…’ The mask had slipped entirely, and she looked terribly and unwillingly vulnerable in that moment. ‘However, I appreciate the sentiment, especially coming from you.’

The two of them shared a smile with a bitter taste to it.

‘Just you wait and see.’ Rima said to her. ‘One day, if a new person tries to insert themselves into our lives, you’ll learn to value my clinginess.’

A loud snorting laugh erupted from Nadeshiko that was entirely unfeminine.

‘I’ll try to remember.’

At the instant Amu returned, she clearly seemed happy to see Rima and Nadeshiko getting along, which in turn annoyed Rima somewhat.

Nevertheless, even Rima was forced to concede that Nadeshiko wasn’t going away anytime soon and that she was, perhaps, possibly, better off being nice to her.


	10. A Window to the Past

The shadows passed on the wall like ghosts in the night. Caused by the light of the moon, Amu shivered every time they passed one of the large looming windows. Even though she knew her insecurities were silly, she still couldn’t help but feel scared.

As the pale glowing shapes continued to haunt her, Tadase checked student attendance from room to room. In the nighttime, his blond hair became white, and had an ethereal beauty to it. Briefly, Amu stared at it, and then turned away embarrassed when Tadase caught her.

A quiet gloom was persistent between them as they continued onwards. Only the sound of their footsteps and Tadase’s soft voice echoed in the hallway. Above their heads small chandeliers dangled from the ceiling, furthering the eerie atmosphere that made Amu so uncomfortable.

Each click of another door was a step closer to the end of the patrol. With each step Amu was closer to her warm bed, where she could forget about what Seiyo looked like in the darkness.

Her thoughts had drifted from the conversation, Nevertheless, the look of distress on Tadase’s face was unmistakable. From sorrow and stress his eyebrows were knitted together, like two sides of a mountain meeting at its peak.

’There’s a student missing.’

’Is it Ikuto?’

Rather than words, Tadase opted for an annoyed sigh.

’No, it’s one of the younger ones.’

A grimace marred Amu’s features. Not certain how to respond, she turned to stare out of the window. During this time of night, campus was entirely deserted. There was a single raven perched on a tree branch . In spite of the circumstances, it seemed comfortable and satisfied being by itself.

’But Ikuto is also missing, isn’t he?’

Evidently Tadase was displeased by the question if his silence was anything to go by. Nevertheless, he answered promptly after recovering himself.

’Yes.’ He said with a kind of finality.

’He’s probably on the roof. That’s where he usually is, anyway...’ Amu paused, unsure of how to proceed. She could tell Tadase was getting antsy by the impatient way he was stamping his foot. ’Let’s get him first.’

’Fine.’

In order to keep up with him, she had to increase her pace. Inwardly she cursed him for his childishness, while she nearly came to a jog trying to keep up with him. Although, as they sped through the hallway, they left the ghosts lurking on the walls far behind them. A relief to be sure. 

Accompanying the moon was a single star. It cast down its light without the aid of its comrades. It looked as lonely as the blue-haired boy perched against the railing. A feeling of melancholic sadness bloomed in Amu's heart.

Tadase clearly held no such sentiments, as he strode towards Ikuto determinedly, with the fury of hell in his expression.

After Ikuto's apathetic acknowledgement, Amu felt a shift in the wind and hurried over to them.

Before Amu could insert herself, Tadase lifted an accusing finger. 

'Flaunting rules again I see. How typical. Guess what happened while you were up here, doing God-knows-what?'

A mirthless laugh came from Ikuto that chilled Amu to her core.

'One of the kids peed themselves and you had to change their diaper?'

Barely contained anger reddened Tadase's face.

When Amu moved in between them, the tension slightly diffused. However, neither party wanted to be the first to admit defeat. Accusingly they stared at each other, as if neither of them were somehow at fault.

Amu stood between them like a canyon between two cliffs. Fire nor water could have bridged the gap. In spite of herself, Amu rallied her temper.

‘Would the two of you please,  _ please _ act more mature?’

‘Like you said.’ She vaguely gestured towards Tadase.’We have a serious problem. Let’s treat it as such. A student is missing.’

Thoroughly chastised, Tadase hung his head. ‘Of course. Let’s go to notify the headmaster.’

Evidently, Ikuto was less impressed, but nevertheless leapt off the rail and inclined his head.

The march towards the teachers dorm was wrought with terse silence. A spark would be enough to set their truce aflame.. A ship sure to sink. No one spoke; it was dreadfully awkward. A curt knock on a door conjured a sleepy Tsukasa.

‘Good evening.’ Tadase started. ‘We are missing a student.’

Tsukasa blinked once or twice. ‘Oh. Is it Ikuto?’

Amu and Tadase snickered together while Ikuto harrumphed, insulted.

‘I’m right here!’ He said.

‘It’s a Seventh grader named Rika Hiiragi.’ Tadase explained.

Under the circumstances, Tsukasa remained remarkably calm. Worriedly so, if anyone had asked Amu. All the same they awaited his instructions avidly.

‘Go wake the other Guardians, and search the grounds.’

In lieu of his lack of further demands, Amu, Tadase and Ikuto walked back in the direction of the student dorms.

The quiet remained, and it brought back Amu’s feeling of discomfort. It almost seemed too still, no one in the school was making a sound.

A door slammed in the distance and she nearly jumped out of her skin. A flash of green hair moved, barely in her line of sight, and walked closer towards them.

Light from the outside reflected on his glasses. The boy who approached walked with stiff posture. Irritation was clearly visible by the expression on his face. As he stepped into the light, it became clear it was Kairi.

‘Do any of you wish to retire? I’ll gladly finish the patrol for you to get one moment away from that childish girl.’

Tadase nor Amu dared answer him, therefore Ikuto took the initiative to shoot Kairi down.

‘Actually, you might want to go back and take her with you. There’s a kid missing and we’re gonna go find her.’

With a huff Kairi turned around and stormed back towards his dorm.

‘Rendezvous outside by the dining hall!’ Ikuto yelled at Kairi’s retreating silhouette.

‘Couldn’t you have let him down a little gentler?’ Amu asked.

With a crooked smile, Ikuto shook his head.

‘He has to learn.’

‘Either way, that’s one set of Guardians up and about.’ Tadase added. ‘Let’s split up and mobilise the others. Ikuto, you go wake up Kukai and your sister. Amu, you go get Rima and Nadeshiko. I’ll get Kairi and Yaya up to speed. Let’s meet outside of the dining hall like you suggested.’

By the distasteful expression on Ikuto’s face, he seemed displeased to be taking orders from Tadase. Regardless, he acquiesced and turned in the direction of Utau’s dorm without a word.

Amu and Tadase continued together. When Ikuto was well out of earshot, Amu churned over the events of the night. She couldn’t understand why Tadase and Ikuto fostered so much mutual dislike.

Just as Tadase was about to turn a corner, Amu put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

‘What’s going on with you and Ikuto?’ She asked. ‘Did you two fight?’

Ten different emotions passed on Tadase’s face while she waited for him to answer her. He scratched his head and looked off, pensive.

‘It’s complicated.’

‘Is it because of something that happened before? When the two of you were friends?’

As if he wanted to put more distance between them, Tadase turned to look out of the window onto the grounds below. With gusto the branches of a tree bent backwards graciously in the wind, almost similar to a dancer doing a pirouette.

Pain marred his expression, and Amu regretted asking him about it in the first place. Certainly, it was not a topic he was keen to discuss.

‘Forget it.’ Amu said. But before she could walk away, Tadase caught her by her elbow.

‘No, it’s okay. You have a right to ask. I think I told you that I hadn’t spoken to him in a while, right?’

In her mind, Amu went back to the day they all met and remembered their conversation.

‘Yes.’

‘Well… It’s not really my tale to tell, that being said, it’s related to Ikuto’s past…’

_________________________________________________________________________

_ The incessant buzzing of the cicadas kept Tadase from a restful sleep. For the gazillionth time that evening, he slid open the shoji door and sat down on the engawa. The garden appeared peaceful. Dragonflies glided over the ponds, and a horde of fireflies gathered around a single lantern that was lit in the middle of their estate. _

_ Without a care in the world they moved around each other, and shed light on the flower beds hidden in the dark. Pink and purple were illuminated in the night as the creatures moved from plant to plant. It was a mesmerizing sight. _

_ Perhaps a midnight viewing of the grounds wasn’t so bad after all. _

_ A voice stirred Tadase from his thoughts. _

_ ‘Isn’t it long past your bedtime?’ The sound and a blue-haired head dangling upside down nearly knocked him off his feet. _

_ Elegantly, like a cat, Ikuto leapt off the roof and landed right next to Tadase, on his two feet. _

_ Not a word was spoken between them. In response, Tadase sighed and walked back into his room. He returned with a blanket, and a pillow to sit on. _

_ In return Ikuto accepted Tadase’s offer wordlessly and sat next to him. Accordingly time went by. The two of them viewed the peaceful scene in silent companionship. _

_ Not an hour had passed before Tadase felt his eyes slowly becoming heavy. To weather the cool summer breeze, he moved a little closer to Ikuto. _

_ ‘What about yours?’ Tadase asked. _

_ ‘My what?’ _

_ ‘Your bedtime.’ _

_ Ikuto laughed, and Tadase felt his heart become somewhat lighter. _

_ However, his joy belied more serious matters. Namely, the reason he had come knocking on Tadase’s door at the witching hour. By and by, his laughter changed into a bitter look unsuited to someone his age. _

_ ‘There’s nobody around that cares whether I’m sleeping or not.’ _

_ Tadase winced. _

_ ‘That bad?’ _

_ ‘You betcha. Ma’s hitting the bottle more often than not… And then there’s this new guy she is whoring herself to.’ _

_ In disappointment and clear disapproval, Tadase shook his head. As he was about to reprove Ikuto, Ikuto met his gaze with a defiant glare. Be that as it may, Tadase went on regardless. _

_ ‘You shouldn’t talk about your mother like that. It’s disrespectful.’ _

_ ‘So what?’ Ikuto spoke in a mocking tone, as if Tadase was still too young to understand what he spoke of.  _

_ In spite of Ikuto’s cold cynicism, Tadase was relentless and placed his hand on Ikuto’s arm. _

_ ‘Why the harsh words? What makes you so angry?’ _

_ ‘That guy. He treats us like shit, me and Utau. And mom doesn’t even love him. She’s just with him for his money.’ _

_ The rage seemed to seep out of him, and all that was left was sadness. Settling in his eyes was a hollow look, depraved of emotion. Every hint of the fire from before was gone. The remnant was an empty husk. _

_ A scene laced with a more immense sadness Tadase could not picture. Ikuto, a talented and goofy boy wasting away under too much stress and responsibility that was never meant for him. It tore at him, and filled him with a deep discomfort. _

_ ‘If you ever need a place to go, you are always welcome here.’ _

_ ‘You don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that, kiddo.’ _

_ With a silly grin Ikuto ruffled Tadase’s hair. _

_ ‘Hey!’ _

_ _____________________________________________________________ _

_ Among his grandmother and the picture of mount Fuji that hung on the wall, there were many similarities. Both of them were very old, and had been around since before Tadase could remember. They were also alike in their unyielding position. Once grandmother made up her mind, there was no arguing with her. As the matriarch of the family, her word was law. Even in the surrounding community she was a very respected figure. Few dared disobey her. _

_ Her period of illness had not weakened her authority. On the contrary, her gaunt face cut a more fearsome figure. _

_ ‘Tadase.’ _

_ ‘Yes, grandmother?’ _

_ ‘What is this I hear from your mother? Why are you out on the streets during the late hours of the night?’ _

_ ‘Well, one of my friends comes from a troubled family. He needs a place to stay, because his mother is an alcoholic, and his stepfather-’ _

_ Identical to the famed mountain, his grandmother’s expression was stony and unmovable. _

_ ‘Tadase! You know better than to consort with such riff raff!’ _

_ ‘But grandmother- _

_ ‘This is the last I will hear of it. If I catch you mixing with the boy again, I will tan your hide!’ _

_ ______________________________________________________________________ _

  
  


‘Oh.’ Was all Amu could muster.

‘Yes… After all that came to pass we lost contact. I felt guilty about it for a long time. Still do.’

‘I can understand why. It must have been an impossible situation.’

The sadness that was mirrored in his posture was replaced with a strange kind of determination. Contrary to his previous manner, he looked her in the eye. Just like he had a couple of days ago, Tadase reached out and took Amu’s hand.

‘Definitely. And now it’s still very hard, because..’ Words failed him and he looked away.

‘Because what?’

‘Because neither of you have done your job yet!’

As a result of Ikuto’s arrival with Utau and Kukai in tow, Tadase quickly let go of Amu’s hand and sputtered, embarrassed.

‘Yeah!’ Utau backed her brother with a loud yell. ‘Let’s roll, I want to get back to my beauty sleep as soon as possible.’


	11. Ghost Busters

Fate had not been kind to them that day, as it was pouring by the time they were all collected outside. Dressed in triangle-shaped poncho’s and armed with umbrellas, they were gathered in a circle, hurdled around Tadase. Although a far cry from a man, Tadase spoke with the voice of a benevolent leader speaking courage into his troops.

With a matching uniform and purpose, they were more guardian-like than they had ever been so far. Ready to receive orders to bring back their missing comrade.

Despite the heavy rainfall, all ears were turned in Tadase’s direction and not a single word was missed.

‘All right everyone. Thank you for coming out and enduring this terrible weather. As I’m sure you’ve all heard, a student has gone missing. Tsukasa has contacted her family and the police. Until they get here, we are the first search party that will begin to look for her.’

For a brief moment, Tadase paused to denote the significance of their role in the matter. Amu giggled when Rima rolled her eyes.

‘Amu, Ikuto and I have already been up for several hours. For this reason, Amu and Ikuto will search the school buildings while the rest of us will check the parklands. Yaya, Kairi and I will comb through the larger Moon forest, whereas Rima and Nadeshiko will go to the smaller Star thicket. Kukai and Utau will walk around the premises. The police will arrive with a search party in approximately one hour. When they do, further decisions will be left to them. Any questions?’

Against all odds, no one had a question, or even a sarcastic comment. This left everyone to go in their respective directions. Amu was to go with Ikuto.

With an easy smile, Ikuto twirled the general key in his hands.

‘Can you believe they just gave this to us?’

‘When one of the youngest students is missing? Yes, yes I can.’

‘This cat has some claws.’ He raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. Because Amu didn’t engage his taunting, he sighed and tilted his head towards the main building.

‘Anyway, let’s get this show on the road. The teachers lounge seems like a good place to start.’

The minute they sat foot into the abandoned main building, the ponchos came off and the umbrellas were laid to the side. In comparison to earlier, Amu found the empty halls to be even more off-putting. The wind beat slightly against the ancient walls, making them creak and moan. Additionally, the automatic lights springing to life made it feel like there was someone there with them.

Notwithstanding that their footsteps were the only ones around for nearly a mile, Amu couldn’t shake the sense there was a third person observing them.

By the time Ikuto turned the key into the lock of a door, it scared her half to death. She let out a soft hearted yelp.

Grasping his reaction, Amu categorized Ikuto as a very insensitive person. Several snorts of amusement were heard echoing the halls.

‘Scared of the dark, are you, little kitten?’ He wrinkled one eyebrow, and Amu felt anger slowly boiling her blood.

Refusing to dignify his teasing with a response, Amu quickly peered around the room and came to the conclusion that the girl wasn’t hiding there.

Amu walked out of the room first. Ikuto followed, and locked the door behind him. So their dull routine began. Room after room, with no sign, hint or indication of the girl’s whereabouts whatsoever.

Upon completing the first floor, they mounted the stairs to check the upstairs classrooms.Out of nowhere, Ikuto coughed and Amu jumped again. That time, however, she lost her footing.

Luckily, Ikuto had the presence of mind to catch her before she fell down.

‘Just say that you’re scared. I’m not so great at it either, but I’ll try to help you through it.’

Promptly, Amu burst into tears. She turned around in Ikuto’s arms and sobbed into his shirt. Not knowing how to respond, Ikuto awkwardly patted Amu’s head.

‘There there. It’ll be okay.’

She laughed through her tears. ‘You suck at this.’

‘I told you I did!’

In Amu’s heart of hearts, she found Ikuto’s manner incredibly endearing. In spite of mechanical movements, he returned her gaze steadily. A warmth spread itself through her entire body, and her stomach flipped.

It was so tempting to reach out and touch his face, be that as it may, she knew there were more pressing problems at hand.

‘We should hurry up and find this girl.’ She finally said.

‘Do you feel better?’

‘Kind of.’ Despite how embarrassing her childish vulnerability was, Ikuto’s earnest playfulness somehow made her feel more at ease. ‘Can I… can I hold your hand? Is that okay?’

‘Sure.’

Slight alterations made the school building seem much less scary, and they swept through it in no time. Before long, Amu waited outside while Ikuto locked up the building. By some grace of the heavens, the rain had stopped. Brilliant stars scattered the sky like diamonds on a wedding dress. However beautiful the night sky was, the occasion that had called them outside was tragic. By the same token, it appeared strange how still and quiet everything was. Amu couldn’t place it, but her sixth sense was telling her something was wrong.

‘Where are the feds? Didn’t Tadase say the place would be crawling with the five-o right around now?’

‘With what?’ Amu asked.

‘I mean the police.’

‘Oh, right. Yes, that is very strange.’

As soon as the question was asked, it was answered. Tadase thundered past them with a pack of police officers on his tail. Mid-stride, he stopped to interrogate them.

‘Officers, these are two of my fellow Guardians, Iku- Tsukiyomi and Amu. Did you guys find anything?’

‘Unfortunately not.’ Amu said.

The most stern-looking of the bunch shot a distrustful look at them. Clearly, he didn’t hold their capacity in high regard. Momentarily, he paused to stare at Ikuto, but regained his composure.

‘No matter.’ He said briskly. ‘We will now take care of this task. If you mind, the master key?’

‘All yours.’ With the reflexes of a cat, he tossed the key to the police officer who failed to catch it. He didn’t take kindly to the display of bravado.

Markedly planning to remonstrate Ikuto for his behavior, the police officer was cut off by Tadase stepping in.

‘Thank you for your effort guys. Go and rest, you deserve it.’

A terrifying smile full of venom made its way on Ikuto’s face. Looking at it frightened Amu more than whatever delusions she’d had in the main building and student dorms combined. 

‘You’re welcome my little prince. Catch you later.’ Hesitating, Ikuto stopped, turned to Amu and held out his hand.

‘Come on sugar, I’ll keep the monsters away for you.’

Red from shame, Amu took Ikuto’s hand whilst Tadase fumed at the display. They stared daggers at each other's retreating backs.

As soon as they were out of sight, Amu glared angrily at Ikuto.

‘You did that just to make Tadase angry! Why? What’s your problem?!’

Ikuto snatched his hand away like she’d burned him.

‘I’m sure you know, considering the two of you have already discussed my life story.’

‘If you knew, then why didn’t you say so? Why are you being so obstinate?’

‘Do you think I like it that all of my families’ problems are out there in the open? It’s not your business, and it’s not Tadase’s business either. Fucking prick he is, acting all sanctimonous. You know what happened when we were on the street, Utau and me? He turned his back on us. Cut us off, like we were pests he was glad to be rid off. So no, he doesn’t get the right to pretend to care.’

Frustrated, Amu stomped her feet.

‘Okay, fine! You have every right to be mad! But that doesn’t entitle you to use me to get back at him.’

Upon hearing her indignation, Ikuto deflated and sighed.

‘Fine. I guess you’re right. Sorry. I won’t do it again.’

‘Good. Now let’s get out of this horrid weather.’


	12. Skeletons in the Closet

The armor that Tadase had given them to face the rain consisted of three pieces, or four, if you wanted to get nit-picky about it. A cloak meant to repel the showers that were still steadily falling. Second, there was an umbrella that was well nigh useless among the thick branches that whipped it at every turn.

Third and fourth there was a set of school issued wellies, several sizes too big for Rima. Moreover, the boots were heavy and uncooperative.

Each step made was a battle with the resilient forest floor. It seemed hell-bent on wanting her footwear; for each time she lifted her legs she had to screw the boots loose from the mud.

When she finally managed to win her foot back every time, the mud let go with a distinctive ‘plop’ sound.

All in all, it was definitely not the best night to go for a stroll through the grove. The woods agreed with her as it made walking more difficult at every turn.

Rima considered that a machete wouldn’t have been uncalled for. If not for navigation, then for the satisfaction of punishing the forest for being in her way.

Only by the miracle of Nadeshiko’s odd looking purple hair was Rima able to see where she was going. Had Nadeshiko been born with a normal hair color like black or pink, Rima surely would have lost her in the uninhabitable weather.

Once she’d heard her father say that a journey of a thousand miles began with a single step, yet, that single step was probably meant to be taken on a concrete road. Rather than a muddy path that was starting to dissolve into a swamp.

Not paying attention, she pulled on her boots particularly hard and one of her feet shot out. Without thinking, she put it back down and got a fist full of mud on her legs.

‘Holy mackerel! Shit, mother-’

Through the veil of rein, Nadeshiko’s sickly white face was barely visible as she turned her head. At a positively glacial speed she soldiered her way through the sludge and helped Rima put her boot back on.

‘Thanks mom!’

Nadeshiko leveled her with a half amused, half exasperated look and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. Mud stuck to the inside of her shoe and Rima cringed.

Her mood became more sour with every raindrop. When Nadeshiko moved off the tree to continue their trek, Rima stopped her.

‘I want to rest for a bit. I’ll collapse if I have to walk through the muck again.’

Clear by her look of disappointment, Nadeshiko didn’t agree, but nevertheless conceded.

In contrast to her superior attitude, the way she slumped negated her eagerness to drudge on.

Her eyes fell shut and hinted at a deep tiredness, one that Rima felt as well.

Though her face was dry, her eyelashes were wet and glistened in the moonlight. In rest, her expression looked suspiciously peaceful.

As soon as she had settled, she stirred again.

‘Come on, Rima dear. The sooner we finish this search, the sooner we’ll be back inside.’

Begrudgingly, Rima admitted to herself that Nadeshiko had made a solid point.

‘Fine.’ Mustering all her strength, she pulled her boots free again. Exactly like what had happened earlier, her foot shot free. 

In anger, she pounded her fist against a tree. 

‘Fiddlesticks!’ 

On its last leg, the tree creaked ominously. Nadeshiko and Rima exchanged fearful looks. A branch snapped loose with a loud crack. Vainly she wished she’d respected nature more, and held harming it in a higher regard, but it was already too late for such sentiments.

All of it happened in a flash. Prior to her realizing, a branch large enough to pound her head into mush fell down. Just as she thought her life would be cut horribly short, Nadeshiko dived towards her and pushed the both of them out of the way. Rima landed with her back in the mud and Nadeshiko on top of her.

Simultaneously, the branch smashed into the ground missing its intended victims by a hair. Usually Rima had never liked it when others violated her private space. Excepting of course, that if Nadeshiko hadn’t done so, she would have been a touch more dead.

As she regained her breath, Rima wanted to thank her, but noticed that Nadeshiko had passed out. Nadeshiko was heavier than Rima expected, and Rima tried to use whatever strength she had left to move her. When she tried to do so, however, she felt something move against her thigh that she hadn’t expected to be there.

In shock she let out a fearful squeal that promptly awoke Nadeshiko. Being dazed and confused, Nadeshiko rubbed her eyes and placed one arm aside Rima’s shoulder, slowly pushing herself up.

Magically, the rain cleared in an instant. Light shone through the trees illuminating the sharp cut of Nadeshiko’s jaw.

In spite of the time that had passed, Nadeshiko was still disoriented, which made Rima wonder if she’d hit her head.

‘Rima?’ Her voice sounded lower than Rima had ever heard before.

Suddenly a light bulb shone in Rima’s mind.

‘You’re a boy!’

For the blink of an eye an astounded expression graced Nadeshiko’s face. Then her veil fell back into place. Even so, Nadeshiko moved away from Rima with the speed of lightning.

In order to cover up her surprise at being called out, Nadeshiko laughed awkwardly.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about Rima. We’re both girls.’

Strange determination propelled Rima forward, and she put both of her hands on Nadeshiko’s shoulders.

Too late Nadeshiko tried to back away, but failed miserably because of the trees surrounding them at all ends.

‘For goodness sake, Rima! Back up off me for the love of God.’

Rima turned bright red with embarrassment, but met her gaze even so.

‘Then why are you dressing like a girl? Are you.. Err… Transgender?’

‘No! No I told you I’m a girl just like you.’

‘Then why do you have a… you know.’ 

Both of them looked away at the same time, making the situation even more uncomfortable. Nadeshiko rose and brushed the dust off her skirt. Ere she turned around, Nadeshiko offered Rima her hand to help her up. As Rima took it, she couldn't help but notice how rough and calloused they were. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Nadeshiko cut her off.

‘I refuse to discuss this matter with you further, in this uncivilized manner.’

Promptly she turned around, waiting for Rima to walk ahead of her. With a heavy heart Rima wrestled her lost boot out of the dirt and wrenched it back on. So they trudged on in a horrible silence. Was it her fault, Rima wondered. Had she crossed a line? Rima could imagine that if for some reason Nadeshiko was trying to keep it under wraps, she wouldn’t want anyone to know about it.

Most likely, Rima had responded the way Nadeshiko probably feared most people would respond. Worse yet, after Nadeshiko had just saved Rima’s life. Or at least her brain.

Stewing in her guilt, Rima hardly noticed the clearing in the middle of the forest. Fortunately, Nadeshiko managed to pull her back in time, nearly avoiding stepping in the pond.

‘You are just hopeless.’ Nadeshiko muttered. ‘If your head wasn’t attached, Rima…’

A slight sound of branches breaking snapped her out of her reverie. Further ahead, a young girl with dark red hair and pigtails was crouched in the grass. Relief flooded Rima’s heart.

‘Hey! You! Come here!’

However, the girl clearly had other plans. More limber than either Rima or Nadeshiko, she jumped from her hiding place and vanished into the woods. Gobsmacked Nadeshiko and Rima watched her go.

‘Good job.’ Nadeshiko said with biting cynicism.

‘What?! I didn’t know she was going to run off!’ Rima glared at her.

For a lack of words, Nadeshiko sighed and looked away.

‘No, I suppose you didn’t…’ Her tone was wistful.

‘You know you can talk to me, right?’ Rima said. ‘Look, I’m sorry I was such a dipstick earlier.’

‘I humbly accept your apology.’ Nadeshiko looked at Rima with mirth in her eyes. ‘We’ll discuss it once we retrieve the girl.’

‘Shouldn’t we go back and leave it to the police?’

‘Perhaps. But I think we have a better chance if we go after her. Someone running on a muddy path is bound to leave a trail. Furthermore, she might be scared of the police.’

Now that they had their target in sight, giving up was out of the question. Additionally, now that it no longer rained, it was bound to be an easier trip.

‘Alright then. Lead the way, oh wise one.’

Headstrong Nadeshiko had returned with full energy, as she shot Rima a look that brokered no argument. In order to make it past the creek without getting wet or falling in, the two of them hooked elbows and shuffled over the river bed with their backs to the trees. Following their arrival to the girls’ former hiding place, the signs of her trail were obvious.

If the way she had chosen was any indication, the girl really didn’t want to be found. The path she had taken was far more overgrown than the one they’d been on previously. Ankle-length grass grew as far and wide as the eye could see. Branches hung so low they were at chest-level with Nadeshiko. A lot of the light from the moon was blocked out so it was astoundingly dark.

Rima fished a flashlight out of her pocket and brightened the path.

‘Buckle up, this is going to be a tough trip’.


	13. All is fair in Love and War

Grass tickled Rima’s knees as they went further and further into the forest. Although Tadase had said theirs was the smallest one, she was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake. Or if the other ones were even more humongous. Somehow she doubted it, as she extended the flashlight and saw yet more footsteps and trees.

Wet tendrils of glass were stuck to her legs, Luckily, the pleasant heat prevented them from feeling cold. Frogs had begun to croak and cicadas buzzed. A mosquito tried to sting her, but Rima flattened it. Sweat coated her forehead.

Behind her, Nadeshiko was having a much harder time. Branch after branch had to be pushed away, lest they struck her in the face. Occasionally one did and earned her infamous scorn. 

Eventually Rima lost count of how long they had been walking. On the other hand, she had also noticed that the grove was slowly but surely becoming less dense. There might just be more beyond the thicket that Tadase hadn’t known about.

‘Poor girl. Can you believe she ran all this way?’ Nadeshiko said, while narrowly avoiding a tree branch.

All the energy Rima could summon to reply was a grunt. After pulling a leech off the inside of her knee, she looked down at the path to relocate the trail. Small footsteps had dented the tall grass and were easy to follow. 

Whilst they continued to walk, more and more light began to peek through the trees. Likewise the grass became less dense and the ground less soaked. 

For a reason she couldn’t place, Rima was starting to get a strong sense of deja vu. Almost as if she had walked there before.

Out of nowhere, a deer jumped right in her line of sight. Rima almost fell backwards, but Nadeshiko put her hand on Rima’s lower back to steady her. Evidently the deer was more scared of them than the other way around considering it darted away again.

‘That’s the third time you saved me today. I owe you.’

Gradually Nadeshiko dropped her hand from Rima’s back.

‘No need to worry about it.’ She said. ‘Let’s continue onwards.’

As Rima had suspected, they soon reached the second glade. What they saw knocked the breath out of her.

An immense greenhouse stretched out over the field. Light glittered on the glass and reflected on the trees. Two richly decorated doors matched the size of the exterior. One of which stood slightly ajar. Wrought iron ran up and down the sides by manner of decoration. Vines had claimed a part of the walls. Compared to its past grandeur, it had fallen in disarray to some extent. 

‘This place…’ Rima had stars in her eyes as she recalled the past. She could picture the greenhouse just like it was before, without the plants trying to conquer it.

‘Bizarre, I don’t remember ever being told about its existence.’ Nadeshiko said. ‘Or seeing it on the map of campus.’

Nadeshiko snapped Rima from her thoughts. When Rima looked at her face, she could see her earnest concern. It brought a smile to her face.

‘No… I wonder why it was abandoned. We used to come here a lot. Me and the other Guardians, I mean. This was a meeting place of sorts. Unbelievable that we just forgot about it.’

A cool breeze sent whispers across the grass, and Rima was taken back a decade in time. Images of a younger version or herself, Amu, Tadase and Yaya flashed in her mind. Simpler times, when her family was still happy.

Briefly she allowed herself to bask in nostalgia, but then she swallowed and rubbed her eyes.

‘Right. I guess the girl went inside. We should go get her.’ Rima said.

Cautiously they both approached the large doors. Rima peaked inside gingerly, and motioned to Nadeshiko to follow her.

Whereas the flora was still blooming in its full glory inside the greenhouse, the chairs and tables had disappeared. To say nothing of the gazebo; one pillar had collapsed. It was dangerously close to caving in all together.

Rikka was nowhere to be seen.

The shed in back was partly obscured by trees that had begun to spring up. Rima had a strong suspicion the girl might be hiding in there.

‘Good!’ Rima said loudly. ‘I’ll-’ Nadeshiko put her hand on Rima’s arm to stop her, and put her index finger on her mouth.

‘Maybe, if you chase her now, she’ll run and it will turn into a game of cat and mouse. She already knows, presumably, that we are in the greenhouse. Let’s wait for her to approach us on her own terms. She knows she’ll have to go back eventually.’

‘Sounds like a good idea to me. The less work I have to do, the better. Anyway.. We used to have chairs here, but not anymore I guess.’

Nadeshiko giggled into her sleeve.

‘After this disgusting ordeal we’ve gone through, I’m fine sitting on this perfectly clean floor.’

Rima laughed along with her. For a while, they sat side by side waiting for Rikka to come out. Neither of them spoke. Rima enjoyed looking at the garden and reminiscing about old times. It all felt so long ago, and the world had become so much heavier. Secretly she wished that Amu was with her, instead of this new friend that she couldn’t seem to figure out. Especially that night, since Nadeshiko seemed so far away.

There was a side to her that she didn’t want or didn’t feel comfortable sharing. That much was obvious to Rima. Of course she was perfectly entitled to keeping it all to herself. Yet it made Rima feel so alone, even when they were together.

Internally Rima wondered whether or not she should ask again, when Nadeshiko moved out of the blue. She pulled her signature ponytail loose, and let her hair fall down her back.

‘Nagihiko.’ She said with a notably lower tone of voice. ‘That’s my name.’

‘Aha.’ Stiffly, Rima nodded.

‘Yes.’ Nagihiko sighed deeply and rubbed his face in irritation. ‘About the way I acted tonight… It must seem like I’ve got a few screws loose.’

That prompted laughter from Rima.

‘I always think of you that way.’

Nagihiko shook his head in disapproval, but with a grin nevertheless.

‘Well I’m glad, because the explanation is going to sound even more strange.’

_______________________________________________________________

_ ‘Another boy. What a disappointment.’ _

_ Two women stood side by side on an engawa, looking out over a landscape cloaked in snow. Winter had bathed the land for it to be created anew. All of the flowers and plants that sheltered under its protection lay in slumber, waiting for summer to return. The families’ summer had already arrived, in the form of new life. A baby. So perfect and innocent, yet so few around him appreciated his advent. Nature abided indifferent to anyone’s opinion. Whether a harbinger of joy or sorrow, spring would come again. However apathetic to the ways of the world, the seasons were received with gratitude. Unlike the infant who had never wronged a single person. _

_ ‘All is not lost. Tradition shall guide us to continue our work.’ _

_ ‘In this day and age? It cannot be done.’ _

_ The younger of the two dropped to her knees, and took the hand of the elder. _

_ ‘Mother, I shall see to it that it is done, as it should be done.’ _

_ ________________________________________________________________________ _

‘All this effort… Just for a dance studio?’ Rima couldn’t stop some doubt from slipping through her tone of voice.

‘I know that it sounds excessive, but it’s not just my family. I am dedicated to the art.’

‘But why can’t you be yourself too?’

‘This is what is required of me in order to be the best dancer I can be. If I don’t grow up as a girl, how can I ever learn to dance like one?’

‘You’ve got me beat, that’s for sure.’

Nagihiko’s roaring laughter was surprisingly endearing. Completely different from what Rima had expected.

‘Tell me about it. When I first saw you, I thought that you would be so dainty and feminine…’

Rima scowled at him, albeit after punching him in the arm.

A bush shifted near them, and Nadeshiko tied her hair back up in a flash. They exchanged looks. Nadeshiko promptly rose.

‘Since no one is here, we should leave.’ She said unnecessarily loudly. ‘I’m sure the police will be happy to take it from here.’

Suddenly Rikka jumped up. Instead of scared or frightened as she had been, her body was tight with tension. Once she’d spotted them near the door, she started to shiver.

Her energy vanished instantly when she collapsed. Both Rima and Nadeshiko hurried to catch her.

All color had left the girls’ cheeks; she was as pale as a spectre. Panic seized Rima. During the time Rima and Nadeshiko had cooled off, they hadn’t considered the girls well-being at all. How could she have been so selfish? Shame ate away at her. In Rima’s arms, Rikka looked so frail and vulnerable.

Nadeshiko had a better presence of mind. First she verified Rikka’s pulse and then listened to her breathing. 

‘She’s okay?’ Rima asked.

‘To be frank, I can’t say for certain. We need to return as quickly as possible.’

The night had been long. Rima and Nadeshiko were both at the end of their rope. The prospect of having to drag this unwilling girl back to Seiyo sounded very unappealing. 

Be that as it may Nadeshiko rolled up her sleeves. Although Rikka was still out like a light, Nadeshiko lifted her up carefully.

‘Oh dear… She weighs next to nothing.’

Together they descended the steps of the greenhouse with an unconscious Rikka along for the ride. Rima dreaded the way back through the forest. An additional companion would make the way far more difficult. Upon their approach, Rima tried to make it easier on Nadeshiko by breaking off a couple of branches and clearing away grass.

Cautiously Nadeshiko took a few steps on the mucky path. Then she nearly tripped over a tree root that was sticking out. Rima shot out to steady her.

‘This isn’t going to work, is it?’ Rima said.

‘No. I suspect that it won’t.’

They returned to the glade and propped Rikka up against the glass wall of the greenhouse.

‘What now? Should we wake her up?’ Rima asked.

‘Even if we did, she’d fail to complete the journey in her current condition.’

A part of Rima wanted to argue, even so, her gut feeling said Nadeshiko had a point.

Gazing up at the stars, she wondered how they’d get Rikka to safety.

Five or six years ago, the forest hadn’t been there. Nor had she over the other guardians ever drudged through a swamp in order to get to the Royal Garden. No, they’d strolled merrily along a concrete road without a care in the world.

Rima roused from her thoughts. Walking along the treeline, she tried to detect a hint of the road that had been there before. 

‘Bingo!’

‘What is it?’

‘I found the remainder of the road we used to walk along years ago. It might not lead directly to campus, but it’s a better option than the swamp over there.’

Clear hesitation showed in Nadeshiko’s expression. While she questioned Rima’s plan somewhat, she nevertheless picked Rikka up and approached.

‘Very well. I don’t have a better idea.’

Compared to their earlier trial, this was a cake-walk. After several years of neglect nature had gotten to reclaiming the road to a degree. That being said, it was still leagues ahead of the alternative.

In Nadeshiko’s arms, Rikka was still sound asleep.

Leaves rustled in the cool night breeze. All the forest was quiet and peaceful. Far off Rima heard a strange sound, almost like waves rushing on a beach. The further they progressed, the closer it came. Along with peculiar noises, bright lights flashed and blinded them.

With more caution than before they approached. Rima heard a loud horn.

‘It’s the highway! We walked to the highway.’ Nadeshiko yelled, frustrated.

‘Is that bad?’

‘It’s three kilometers away from Seiyo…’

Another car sped by. Nadeshiko emitted a sigh laced with irritation. Water splattered around, as the cars drove through the deep puddles on the interstate. Several trucks drove by hooting loudly causing Rikka to stir slightly.

‘Forget it. I suppose we’re forced to undertake this road.’ Nadeshiko said.

They started walking. However, the way Nadeshiko had spoken bothered Rima. It lit a spark inside her that sweltered with each passing blast of air. At last it ate away at her reason, and her face turned to stone. Embers shifted inside her.

‘Rima, watch out!’

Nadeshiko’s warning came just in time as Rima avoided stepping in a pool of mud.

‘Honestly, you’re at sixes and sevens! How do you expect to make it back to Seiyo in this state?’

The haughtiness of Nadeshiko’s tone was the match that ignited the fire of rage in Rima. Her blood started boiling coupled with tension shooting up her spine.

‘For Pete’s sake!’ Rima exclaimed.

Similarly Nadeshiko’s mouth turned taut in a straight line, offended by Rima’s response. For this reason, Rima pointed her finger at Nadeshiko in an accusation.

‘Sorry I fucking care, okay? Sorry I tried my best to find the best way for us to take. Sorry it’s not good enough for you, Your Royal Highness.’

Clearly unhappy with Rima’s statements, Nadeshiko’s nostrils flared dangerously. Her face twitched, rife with barely suppressed frenzy. Whilst she stared Rima down, she took a calming breath to steady herself.

‘Rima, please. No need to hit the ceiling over a small remark. I was merely suggesting that you watch where you’re going, otherwise you’ll hurt yourself before returning to school.’

‘You’re patronizing me like I’m five years old! I’m not daft!’

‘No, all I’m trying to do is watch out for you, since you’re clearly not in the right headspace.’

‘I. am. Fine!’ 

Out of anger Rima punctuated her last three words with angry stomps. However, with her last step her heel sank too far into the dirt. As she pulled her foot back out, dust shot up with it, hitting her square in the face.

Furiously Rima blinked, feeling tears prickle at the side of her eyes. Slowly the dirt slid out accompanied by intense coughing. After a brief pause, the two of them continued walking. Rima glared at Nadeshiko, daring her to laugh. Wisely Nadeshiko swallowed her giggles.

Onwards they continued, back to the way they came. Given they walked the rest of the path in silence, Rima felt a tinge of guilt. Although her pride didn’t allow her to apologize, regrets swirled around in her mind over and over.


	14. Far from the Tree

Unwilling eyes opened to a cruel mistress. With brightness and warmth she awoke a stubborn subject, dozing away still. In defense a blanket was raised, however, none managed to escape her hold on the world. Traitorous birds joined her offense to raise all from the depth of the dreamworld. Finally succumbing to her vicious attack, Rima threw off her blanket and blinked in the sun's rays.

Thankful for small mercies, or rather thankful for Tadase, Rima checked her alarm clock.

_ 10:30 _

She snickered as she recalled his worried face. Albeit she could relate to his desire to see Rikka back safe and sound, she held no sympathy for how concerned he’d been for their return. After all, he’d been the one that had sent them to that dreadful marshland in the first place.

Regardless of her agitation, complaining of exhaustion went a long way.

_ ‘The two of you have been out all night. No need to attend class tomorrow; it’s only a half day anyway.’  _

With the smug satisfaction of a cat that had caught a fat fish, she stretched and sauntered over to her closet to get ready for the day.

A well earned day off at the end of the week was always something to look forward to. On the contrary, she was on bad terms with the person she’d be spending it with. Once again. It seemed to be becoming a pattern.

Admittedly she consistently felt worse after some time had passed. With the added time Nadeshiko’s words made more sense. Not taking into account the secret that Nadeshiko had revealed to her that night.

Thinking about it sent her into a downward spiral of existential thoughts. Was she a horrible unfeeling bitch? Was Nadeshiko an uptight shrew that didn’t understand personal boundaries? Although a reasonable voice said it was most likely a bit of both, her ego tended to hold more of the latter sentiment.

Regardless, she didn’t feel like making up nor did she want to think about it much more. Deciding to just avoid Nadeshiko for the time being, she skipped out her room, with designs to make her merry way down to the dining hall.

Fate, however, had other plans. 

At a speedy pace Rima crashed into Nadeshiko’s chest face first. Or, Nadeshiko…?

The signature ponytail was missing; instead her hair fell down her back, dripping wet. Completely unlike Rima had seen before, She was wearing a plain white t-shirt and basketball shorts. Her skin was still damp from her shower, causing her shirt to cling to her figure in certain places. Rima’s nose was against Nadeshiko’s shoulder. Her usual flowery scent was missing. Instead it was a fresh smell, like pine or mint.

Lightning fast, Rima backtracked and almost fell. Her heart pounded in her chest quicker than thought or time. Unlike herself, she couldn’t lift her eyes to meet his gaze. Rather she stared at the floor in mortification.

More than anything she wanted to end the awkward silence by speaking, nevertheless all the words were stuck in her throat. Nagihiko took her out of her daze by grinning softly.

‘Headed to breakfast?’

Rima nodded.

‘Me too. Give me ten minutes, I’ll join you.’

In that manner, the tension had completely dissolved. Perhaps, Rima surmised, she had wrongly assumed Nadeshiko would still be angry with her.

When Nadeshiko stepped out, Rima noticed she had gone back to her flawless self. Her ponytail pulled immaculately tight at the crown of her head. The blouse she was wearing was devoid of creases. It seemed Nadeshiko had noticed Rima was staring at her, therefore, Rima quickly looked away. What was wrong with her?

Nadeshiko held the door open for her, and Rima marched past her.

‘Well, you seem chipper.’ Nadeshiko commented.

‘I got to sleep in.’ 

Nadeshiko giggled.

‘A good laugh and a long sleep will cure most ails.’

‘Heh, I guess that’s true.’

Silence fell as they reached the dining hall. It was devoid of any other students. As promised the previous night, a meal was waiting for them.

Rima sipped her tea slowly as she watched Nadeshiko smear too much marmalade on her toast. In spite of their earlier collision, the atmosphere was still strained.

It cost her a monumental amount of effort, but Rima spoke up.

‘Look, I’m sorry I yelled at you yesterday. In my defense, though, you kind of had it coming.’

Nadeshiko smiled at her mischievously.

‘How so?’

‘Because… you… Okay, maybe I overreacted a little bit.’

‘Right.’ 

If her sigh was any indication, Nadeshiko was slightly disappointed with her answer. Be that as it may, Rima good will had reached its limit.

Whilst toying with her basted eggs, Nadeshiko situated her fork in front of her face and examined it disinterestedly. Suddenly she set it down with a thump.

‘Listen, I know that I can come across as overbearing on occasion. Even so, I had no ill intent. I hope you realized that.’

‘Of course.’ Rima said. ‘But, it just…’

‘I apologize.’

Their eyes met. Rima felt her heart speed up again, and wondered what that meant.

‘I never meant to make you feel like that. I’m sorry.’

Her words seemed very genuine, and Rima smiled.

‘It’s okay, I forgive you. I wasn’t really that angry in the first place. I was afraid that you thought of me as a little kid, like Rikka.’

‘No, I don’t at all.’

The urgency in her tone made Rima marvel.

Sunlight moved without haste across their table throughout breakfast. Minute by minute, it conquered the stained windows that decorated the wall. The surface of the table became awash with purple, pink and blue. As it crescendoed near their plates close to midday, Nadeshiko’s hands looked as violet as her hair.

In contrast from the peaceful scene in the dining hall, a dread ate away at Rima’s insides.

She had to go home that day. Additionally, she had to spend the entire weekend there for want of other plans.

‘Do you have any outings planned for Saturday and Sunday?’ Nadeshiko asked.

‘No, unfortunately. I don’t think my parents would let me go out either.’

‘Oh, why not?’

Rima fidgeted uncomfortably.

‘I don’t think you want to know.’

In response, Nadeshiko nearly shot out of her chair.

‘What? Why? Are you in some kind of trouble?’

‘No, but they seem to think I am. They never let me go anywhere. Sometimes… It’s like I’m a prisoner in my own home.’

A deep sadness took root in Nadeshiko’s expression.

‘Well, perhaps Amu and I could come over?’

‘Trust me, if it was a possibility, rest assured I would have invited you.’

‘Fine. I’ll be looking forward to visiting your house next week.’

Rima glared at her, while Nadeshiko just smiled.

Ninety minutes passed more rapidly than Rima would have liked. Dissimilar to Amu or Nadeshiko, she wasn’t looking forward to going home, nor did she have bags full of luggage she needed to bring.

The three of them gathered outside when the sun was at its peak. Planning on ditching them before walking to her mom, Rima gave both Amu and Nadeshiko rushed hugs. Amu looked at her weirdly. Nadeshiko sensed her hesitation and put one arm around Rima’s lower back.

‘It’s been a pleasure, as always.’ She said slyly.

Rima shot her a weirded-out look.

After bowing slightly, she ran off in the direction her mother was standing. Rima greeted her mother, thinking she was alone.

‘Hello Ms. Mashiro, how do you do? It’s been a while. This is Hinamori Amu.’

Ms. Mashiro looked at them sceptically.

‘And who might she be?’

‘She’s Rima’s best frien-’

Discreetly, Rima kicked Nadeshiko in the shin.

‘Yes. So glad you came to introduce her. We were just leaving.’ Ms. Mashiro said.

Without a hint of hesitation Ms. Mashiro turned and walked away. Nadeshiko stared ahead with empty eyes, baffled. Rima shot her an apologetic look and trailed after her mother.

Frightfully Rima noticed her mother drove faster than usual as she sat beside her in the car. The moment she took a sharp turn, Rima gripped the car door with fear.

Because of her mothers’ reckless driving, they’d arrived home before either of them knew it. Strangely, Rima noticed her mother didn’t get out of the car.

‘Your father came home early.’ She said by way of warning.

‘Oh.’

‘Yes, ‘oh’. You’d better make yourself scarce.’

Tears prickled in Rima’s eyes. It was clear to her father had already worn her mother out with his complaints. With a heavy feeling in her chest she walked up to the front door.

‘Hi daddy!’ She said to her father.

‘Rima. You’re late. Did your mother dilly-dally? You know you’re supposed to come home right away.’

Shortly after her mother entered, and Rima felt the tension in the room rise to unbearable levels.

‘Ronja. Why did you take so long? You know it’s not safe! Why are you endangering our daughter?!’

That was the beginning of a truly hellish afternoon in Rima’s opinion.

She didn’t know what had agitated her father, but he was a true and trailsome beast that day. 

Dinner was the culmination, as usual.

‘This might as well be swamp sludge. Why must you put me through this woman!?’

Rima snickered.

‘I’ve tasted swamp sludge this week, and believe me, it’s a lot worse than this.’

She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.

‘What did you say?’ her father said with an undertone of malice.

‘Nothing sir.’

‘No, I want to hear it. Why have you been out in a swamp?’

‘I haven’t been. I was only joking. You know, to be funny. Ha-ha.’

Disbelieving, Rima’s father regarded her calmly.

‘Have you been letting some boy defile you?’

The physical reaction to his words was immediate. Her fingers twitched with intense anger, and her feet came down hard. Whether or not speculations were true, she cared little. The lack of respect in his composure irked her.

‘How dare you!’ She sprang up, and her plate went flying. For the life of her she could never remember getting angry at her father in this manner. There were first times for everything, she supposed.

Tears came into her eyes for the second time that day.

‘No boy could ever,  _ ever  _ defile me! How could you talk about me like I’m a fucking cow to be sold!?!’

Shocked by her use of profanity, her father shrank.

‘Rima!’

‘No! I’m sick of your shit! You’ve turned our house into a living hell by treating me and mom like garbage!’

‘Rima, that is quite enough.’ Her mother said sternly.

For a brief moment, she breathed to calm herself down. However, when she saw her mother’s disapproving look, she snapped.

‘You two can get bent! I’d rather sleep in the gutter than spend one more night in this house.’

Before either of her parents could stop her, Rima ran out the front door as fast as her legs could carry her. She ran and ran and ran, with little regards as to where she was going.

Fatigue took a hold of her, and she dropped down at a bench that happened to be standing by. She didn’t know who had decided it should be there, however, she was grateful to them. In spite of the slight rain, her head became heavy with sleep. In the back of her mind she knew that passing out here would be unwise, even so, she couldn’t find the energy to care.

Luckily for Rima, a certain purple-headed figure found her on his evening jog not ten minutes later.


	15. Recalled to Life

The flickering fluorescent lights roused Rima from her slumber. Last she knew, she’d ran out the front door in the rain, right before she’d yelled at her father. They’d chased after her of course, but her desire to be away from them had given her newfound strength.

Afterwards, she’d been absolutely exhausted and cried herself to sleep on a park bench.

Not her proudest moment, to say the least.

Thus, having found herself lying on a futon in a strange house, left her very confused.

Questions spontaneously cleared up when a familiar face entered the room holding a tray with two cups of tea.

‘You just don’t give up, do you?’ Rima’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

Nagihiko gave her a cold, unabashed look. ‘I’d say I’m the type of guy who doesn’t think it’s a good idea to let friends sleep on park benches in the rain and catch pneumonia.’

Rima sighed and rolled her eyes, but accepted the cup of tea nonetheless. ‘Dork.’

After they’d finished their tea in silence, Nagihiko made another attempt at conversation.

‘Rima, why were you sleeping by yourself on a park bench?’

Consciously, Rima averted her gaze from him. ‘Please don’t ask.’ Emotion after emotion flowing through her, she couldn’t bear to look at him. She started shaking and clenched her empty cup tightly. Surprised at the gesture, Rima let out a gasp as Nagihiko enclosed his arms around her tiny frame.

‘Nothing’s going to hurt you, Rima. I’m here for you.’ Already shaking in his arms, Rima burst into tears. In response, Nagihiko hugged her even tighter. Perception of time completely lost, they stayed glued together until Rima stopped crying.

Nagihiko stroked the top of her head, and played with her hair.

Numbed by the comfort of his embrace, Rima knew to cherish the moment. Wanting to see his face, Rima looked up. They were so close the numbness left her body for a fluttering feeling of desire. 

Suddenly, all the features of his face stood out sharply. His delicate and soft lips reminded her of the fleeting petals of the cherry blossom in bloom. Even more stunning were his eyes; golden, honey and cinnamon filling her with an unrivaled sweetness.

In accordance she felt goosebumps form all over her body, and she wanted to kiss him more than anything. 

He chose that moment to pull away. 

Using his Nadeshiko voice, Nagihiko said: ‘I think you’ve had enough excitement for one day. Some sleep is in order, don’t you think?’

Rima bowed. ‘Thank you for letting me stay over. However, I think my parents are very worried. Could I use your phone to let them know where I am?’

‘Certainly.’ Nagihiko replied. ‘The phone is just down the hall.’

Reluctantly, she rose from the futon to wobble her way towards the hallway. Rima still hadn’t entirely recovered from her physical contact with Nagihiko, the realization hadn’t sunk in quite yet.

With a great deal of apprehension, Rima picked up the receiver and dialed her home number on the keys of the phone.

It rang once before someone answered.

‘Mashiro Residence.’

‘Hi Mom, it’s Rima. I just wanted to let you know that I am safe, I’m staying with a friend.’

At the other end of the phone, Rima could hear her mom shake with fury. 

‘Absolutely not. For running away, you’re grounded for a month. You’re coming home immediately.’

Rima swallowed, mustering up the courage to defy her parents.

‘No. I hate being home. All you and dad do is yell at each other. I’m not coming right now. When you and dad have made up and promise to be nice, I promise I’ll come back and receive my punishment. I’ll call you again tomorrow.’

Quickly, she hung up before her mother had any chance to reply. Quivering with fear, she could feel the tears coming on again. She swallowed hard, and dialed Amu’s number.

‘IT’S AMI.’

In spite of herself, Rima giggled.

‘Hey Ami, it’s Rima. Can you put your big sister on the phone?’

‘Okay!’

Then it was silent for a while, with the exception of Ami’s feet stomping up the stairs.

After that, Rima heard Ami screech at her sister.

‘AMU, phone!’

After a scuffle, Amu finally answered the phone. ‘Hinamori Residence, Amu speaking.’

‘Hey Amu, it’s Rima.’

Rima heard Amu gasp at the other end of the line. ‘Hey! I’m surprised you’re calling. Did you want to meet up this weekend?’

‘No, I’m calling to let you know I’m staying at Nadeshiko’s. My parents had a big fight, as usual, and I yelled at my dad. Then I ran away.. They went after me, but.. I really wanted to get away.’

Amu sighed. ‘Oh Rima, I’m so sorry..’

‘Don’t worry about it. Miraculously, I ran into Nadeshiko, and she offered me a bed. I’m doing well, really.’

It was a half-truth at best, but Rima could hardly tell Amu what had really happened. She was so embarrassed about having fallen asleep on a bench; a lost puppy without a home.

‘Ah, well, I’m glad you’re safe.’ Amu fell silent for a minute. ‘I wish I could say the same for Ikuto..’

The sadness was clear in Amu’s voice, and Rima felt horrible. She hadn’t spared her friend a single thought since her fight with her parents.

‘Oh Amu, that really sucks. Is he in danger?’

‘I’m not sure. He told me he really didn’t want to go home when we left school. He hasn’t returned my calls or texts.. It’s probably nothing, but I can’t help it you know?’

In fact, Rima didn’t know. If she was honest, she didn’t like Ikuto all that much. However, she thought that he probably meant a lot to Amu, so she played along.

‘It’s only normal, you care about him after all.’

‘I guess so-’. Amu abruptly ended her sentence. ‘I gotta go. Call me?’

Uncharacteristically, Amu was trying to end the call fast. Rima’s spidey senses tingled.

‘Sure… Bye?’

In the aftermath, Rima wondered what that was all about. Regardless, she was sure Amu would tell her all about it later, and she retreated back to the room where she had woken up. Nagihiko was still patiently waiting for her. When he smiled, her heart knotted painfully. Rima did not understand the feeling.

‘All finished?’ He inquired. Rima’s stomach made a mighty noise in reply. Nagihiko’s laugh was full of mirth. The sound reminded Rima of bells ringing.

‘Perhaps a meal is in order first.’ It was less of a question, and more of an order. Still, who was Rima to ever turn down free food?

Before Rima had gone to the phone, she’d already realized Nagihiko lived in a traditional Japanese home. While Nagihiko led her to the kitchen, she saw just how enormous it was. There was no question that Nagi was rich; the decorations were far from cheap.

‘Gee Nagi, you never told me you were a spoiled little rich boy.’ Walking through the hallway was an experience akin to walking through a Japanese museum; there were scrolls and vases everywhere Rima looked.

‘And have you come after me for my money? I’d rather do myself a favour.’ He said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

‘Ha! You wish. You’d have to have a whole lot of money for that to happen.’

‘I have some spare change in my room. Will that do?’

Rima struck him at the back of his head, and looked at him in mock-anger. Nagihiko pouted.

‘Who knows, maybe Saaya is interested?’

Nagihiko smiled. ‘Ouch, now that’s cold.’

A sigh escaped from Rima’s lips and she raised her eyebrow at him tauntingly. ‘Here’s a tip: I’ll be nicer once you’ve fed me.’

Finally, they stopped in front of a sliding door, and Nagihiko gave her one of those I-see-right-through-you-looks that irritated Rima to no end. Slowly, he opened the door to reveal a dining room adjourned to a kitchen.

‘Ladies first.’

‘So go on then.’

Exasperated, Nagihiko sighed and walked to the kitchen. ‘It’ll take me half an hour to prepare a meal, but there are some leftovers you can eat in the meantime.’

Rima smiled benignly. ‘I think I’d rather eat a tub of pudding right now, thank you very much.’

‘If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding!’ Nagihiko waggled his finger. ‘I don’t think eating your feelings is a good idea right now, or ever, for that matter.’

An understandingly sour expression graced Rima’s face. ‘Fine. I’ll eat your ‘so-called’ nutritious meal.’

________________________________________________________________________

A flash of blue disturbed Amu’s concentration. She nearly forgot she was on the phone, as she stared into Ikuto’s mesmerizing cerulean eyes. With a slight smile, he stared at her behind the glass panels that lead to the terrace.

‘I gotta go. Call me?’ She managed to say. 

Vaguely, she heard Rima’s reply, but she ended the call without paying it much attention.

With Ikuto’s eyes on her, she reached to slide open the glass doors. She could not stop the tears from leaking out of her eyes.

‘Ikuto, I was so worried about you!’

After her outburst of emotion, Amu was embarrassed to hear Ikuto’s reply, but none came.

Instead, he merely stared at her in a seemingly dazed state. When Amu took a good look at him, she noticed his face was flustered and that he was wobbling on his feet.

Hesitantly, Amu took a few steps forward, and unmistakably smelled the foul odor of alcohol.

‘Oh my god, you’re drunk!’ Amu moved to hit him on his shoulder, but stopped herself at the last minute.

Ikuto giggled. ‘Yeah.. I’m sorry Ames. Utau’s friend brought a bottle of whiskey, you know how it is..’ His nonchalant attitude made Amu furious.

‘So you decided to pop by?’

‘Hmmm..’ Ikuto caressed Amu’s arm suggestively, and looked at her with dark eyes.

By that time, Amu had turned bright red, and a vein seemed to be throbbing on her forehead.

‘Go home and sober up!’ Amu walked back into her room and slammed the door, but not after locking it first.

In spite of Amu’s wishes, Ikuto pressed his face against the glass and wiggled his eyebrows. ‘Please Amu.. You know you want to..’ His breath fogged up the glass.

Again, Amu felt the tears starting to come, for an entirely different reason. Inside she felt herself screaming, yet she forced herself to stay composed. 

‘Leave. Now.’ Were all the words she managed to ground out without breaking down sobbing.

Visibly upset, Ikuto moved back. ‘Fine, have it your way. I’ll find some other girl.’

In the aftermath of it all, Amu couldn’t believe she was just ‘some other girl’ to Ikuto.


	16. Mother knows best

As the rising sun ascended the sky, it made Rima adjust her sight. It shone brightly, and offered a beautiful view of Nagihiko’s garden. A gravel path surrounded by greenery led to the house where Rima sat on the engawa. To her right, there was a small pond filled with Koi fish and water lilies. Purple flowers were scattered across the entire terrain, blooming in a mesmerizing iridescent colour.

The garden was peaceful, in contrast with Rima’s own feelings. Her shoes were filled with lead; she’d promised her mother over the phone that she’d come back home, and she’d decided to visit her parents at the very least. Nagihiko and his parents would always welcome her in their generosity, however, she realized she could not stay forever.

Nagihiko had insisted on accompanying her. Her pride hadn’t allowed her to accept it, yet she didn’t want to go alone, not really.

So she’d caved. As she tied her shoes, she heard Nadeshiko’s dainty footsteps approaching.

Regardless of everything that had come to pass, she still felt safer with Nadeshiko than with Nagihiko, although she logically knew they were the same person.

Nadeshiko smiled her classic knowing smile, the female version this time, and offered Rima a hand. Even as a woman, there was not a single doubt how stunning he was. His hair reflected the morning sun and glowed brighter than all the flowers in the garden combined. His grace and elegance were as timeless as the house itself. At a loss for words, Rima stared at him in awe.

‘What magical power do you use to transform yourself, Nade?’

In response, Nadeshiko let out a womanly giggle from behind his sleeve. ‘A woman does not reveal her secrets, Rima.’

With a shudder, Rima realized she was attracted to Nadeshiko as well as Nagihiko. She silently wondered why. Reluctantly, she accepted Nadeshiko’s outreached hand and rose.

‘If you won’t tell me, I guess I’ll be a troll forever.’

Unexpectedly, Nadeshiko spun her around. ‘Oh Rima, you know you are lovely and adorable, don’t you?’

Fortunately, Ms. Fujisaki chose that moment to join the two. As she approached, she gave Nadeshiko a reproaching look.

‘My my Nadeshiko, I hope you are doing your best to make our guest feel as comfortable as possible.’ The superiority of her mother’s position was evident; Nadeshiko immediately stopped being playful and composed herself.

Before speaking, she bowed respectfully. ‘Of course mother, my apologies.’

‘See to it that you treat Mashiros’ parents with the same courtesy. Now, off we go.’

While Rima certainly had her reservations to Nadeshiko’s mother coming along, she didn’t think it was wise to question it for the sake of her own health. They jointly crossed the garden to the gate, where a driver was waiting with a car. Everything had clearly been taken care of, as the driver didn’t need her home address from her. 

Rima was so nervous that she barely noticed the car ride going by. It went without saying her own house was nearby, nevertheless, she barely noticed the time passing by. As they pulled up on the driveway, she felt like a prisoner being hauled back to jail.

Before they exited the car, Rima grabbed Nadeshiko’s hand again, overcome with fear. Thus, Nadeshiko squeezed Rima’s hand back, and nodded.

‘You can do this, Rima. I’m right here.’

As Rima took a fortifying breath, Ms. Fujisaki walked up to the front door of the Mashiro Residence and rang the doorbell. 

Rima’s mother opened the door. Interestingly, the emotions that were displayed on her face changed in the bat of an eye; anger, surprise, and then fear. Ms. Fujisaki, the queen of manners, smiled maliciously and extended her hand, which Rima’s mother dumbfoundedly shook.

‘Fujisaki Noriko, pleased to make your acquaintance.’

‘Mashiro Ronja, likewise.’

For a few moments, there was a slight awkwardness between them. When Ms. Mashiro realized Ms. Fujisaki was not backing down, she hesitatingly invited her in. Flabbergasted, Rima followed suit. It became very clear to her where Nadeshiko’s passive aggressive behavior came from; her mother, who had turned it into an art.

When Rima appeared in her father’s line of sight, he had a similar reaction to her mother, though more vocal.

‘Rima! Where have you been! When I’m done with..’ Ms. Fujisaki’s murderous smile silenced him.

‘Well, Rima, why don’t you go show Nadeshiko your room?’ Her tone made it clear that it wasn’t a question.

Perfectly well-behaved to spite her parents, Rima bowed slightly. ‘Yes, Ms. Fujisaki.’

Nadeshiko and Rima nearly ran upstairs, and closed the door immediately.

‘Damn, your mom is scary.’ Rima said after plopping down on her bed.

The same giggle from earlier that morning graced Nadeshiko’s voice again. ‘You have seen nothing, my dear. You should see her when my dad wants a favour.’

Thoroughly lacking in grace, Nadeshiko plunked down next to Rima. While they lied next to each other, time ceased to exist for Rima. The sensation of Nadeshiko lying next to her consumed her. Her whole life faded away for a stretch and was reduced to a single moment. Because of their closeness, Rima could smell that he was wearing perfume. It was intoxicating.

What seemed to be an eternity or a single second, Nadeshiko looked at her and reached for her hand. 

‘You seemed so scared, it must be really bad here.’

Every anxiety about telling him had melted away somehow. Rima felt completely safe.

‘Bad.. That doesn’t begin to cover it. They yell at each other constantly, and make me choose sides. I was kidnapped when I was young, and that’s why they ‘worry for my safety’, as if that’s an excuse to treat me this way. I wish they would just get a divorce.’ 

‘Oh Rima, always trying to be so strong.. You don’t have to suffer alone anymore.’ 

Tratrious tears threatening to show her weakness again, Rima tried to look away, but she just couldn’t. Once Rima had faced him again, he was twirling locks of her hair and brushed her face gently.

‘I don’t. Remember Nade, I have more friends than just you.’ 

Although Rima expected a snarky comment would surely diffuse some of the tension that had built up between them, Nadeshiko made it worse when he smiled warmly at her.

‘Of course I know.’ 

The comment hung in the air between them, as Rima felt herself getting more drawn into his endless eyes. How had she not noticed before how enchanting they were?

Slowly and shakingly Rima reached for Nadeshiko’s other hand which was now resting on the bed.

‘Okay, good. I’m glad you were here today anyway.’ She whispered.

Timidly she rubbed the inside of Nadeshiko’s palm, who moved her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

‘Ah, well, I’m very happy to be here with you.’ 

The tone of his voice dropped a couple octaves, and Rima noticed Nagihiko slipping through. Barely, however. Her body felt like it was on fire, and the spot where he had kissed her hand burned. If she was still in her room, she was certainly floating.

‘So show me how much.’ 

She was met with a raised eyebrow, after which he wrapped his free hand around her waist and pulled her closer.

This was the exact moment Ms. Fujisaki knocked and entered the room. Rima and Nadeshiko moved away from each other as fast as humanly possible, but the suggestiveness of their entanglement was not missed by Ms. Fujisaki.

‘Goodness Nadeshiko, are you a ruffian that I cannot leave alone in a room with a girl?’

Turning as red as a cherry, Nadeshiko bowed deeper than Rima had ever seen him bow and apologized.

‘I am sincerely sorry Mother, I will be more discreet in the future.’

‘I will expect it of you.’

In this complicated Fujisaki power play, Rima felt like a clown. 

‘Or be more overt. You really ought to wine and dine me next time.’

‘Indeed. Treat ladies with the utmost courtesy. Now,’ the irritated undertone was impossible to miss, ‘I have had a lengthy discussion with Ms. and Mr. Mashiro..’ 

Correspondingly, her tone softened again. ‘They want to apologize to you, Rima.’

Unable to make noise, Rima nodded quietly. ‘Let’s go downstairs, shall we?’ 

Rima swallowed, and felt two hands on her shoulders. At least now, she wasn’t alone.


	17. the Walls have Ears

Neither Rima nor Amu were looking forward to going back to school very much, the following Monday morning. This feeling was very evident as Amu spoke with Rima on the phone on her way to school, and told her what had happened that weekend.

‘Oh no Amu, I’m sorry..’ Rima said sympathetically.

Gathering her strength, Amu swallowed. She wouldn’t be seen by her classmates on the way to school crying.

‘I guess he wasn’t who I thought that he was..’ She felt a wave of resignation wash over her.

‘Maybe it’s best you stay away from him.. There’s no telling what he could do if he really put his mind to it..’ There was something sinister in Rima’s tone of voice, and Amu felt a shiver go down her spine.

‘Yes.. I’m going to class now.’

‘Okay! See you later.’

In spite of the promise she had made to Rima, Amu knew in her heart of hearts that it would be difficult to give Ikuto up. Although she was angry with him, she also pitied him. Deep down, she knew that he needed help to get through this crisis. However, she also knew she needed to put herself first.

As she approached the school, Tadase walked towards her. His blond hair resembled straws of gold as it shone in the sun. By his side were Yaya and Kukai. Seeing them made her feel safe, and made her remember that her friends would be there to support her.

‘Hi everyone!’ She said, smiling enthusiastically.

‘Amuuu! I am so happy to see you!’ Yaya returned her smile. ‘I had lots of fun during the weekend! My parents took me to see a movie and I ate lots of ice-cream!’ It was impossible for Yaya to stand still while talking to Amu; she bounced up and down. Amu felt amused and sad simultaneously thinking about Yaya’s parents who had to entertain her all weekend long.

‘What did youu dooo?’

A heavy sigh escaped from Amu. ‘Nothing, I mostly did homework. But something bad did happen that you guys should know about..’ 

Tadase put his hand on Amu’s shoulder.

‘It’s okay Amu, we are here for you.’

Tadase’s words encouraged Amu.

‘I’m so glad for that.’ 

She took a deep breath. 

‘Saturday evening, Ikuto came to my house, or, more specifically, my balcony..’ 

It cost her some effort to keep the anger out of her voice.

‘He was drunk, and he made comments that made me uncomfortable. When I told him no, he banged on my balcony window.’

A grave silence fell over the entire group. It was Kukai that spoke up first.

‘After class, we should all go to Tsukasa. You shouldn’t have to stay with him in the dorm after that happened. I’ll switch with you Amu, don’t worry.’

‘Yaya will go too!’

‘And I as well.’ Tadase nodded.

Realizing that her friends had her back, Amu felt stronger and less afraid. She would have to face Ikuto regardless, but she wouldn’t have to do it alone.

Just before the bell rang, the group went their separate ways to attend class.

Amu sat down next to Rima and Nadeshiko. Rima smiled at Amu, as did Nadeshiko.

‘Good morning Amu, my dear, how are you?’ Nadeshiko said with the grace of a queen.

In response, Amu beamed at her. ‘Oh Nade, you are so ladylike.’

Failing to fight her giggles, Rima responded quietly. ‘You have no idea.’

The moment the words had left her lips, she felt Nadeshiko’s passive-aggressive energy flow her way. A smile entirely devoid of mirth and two serious eyes were turned her way.

‘Did you say something, Rima?’ Nadeshiko poked Rima in her side, causing her to giggle.

‘I said-,’ ‘You,-’ ‘have,-’ ‘no,’ Rima burst out laughing, as Nadeshiko continued her merciless tickle attack.

‘What was that dear?’

While Rima attempted to speak up and fight off Nadeshiko, the teachers’ attention turned to them.

‘Quiet down back there! That’s not proper classroom behavior.’

Scolded, the three turned to their school work.

‘I’ll get you for that later.’ Rima whispered in Nadeshiko’s ear.   
  


Before answering her, Nadeshiko turned to look at Amu, and saw that she was occupied.

‘Okay, Ri-ri. I’ll look forward to it.’ 

The words seemed even more imposing when said by Nadeshiko, Rima realized. Before returning to her class work, Nadeshiko smiled slyly at Rima and winked.

The effect of Nadeshiko’s words sent a tingle of anticipation to Rima’s stomach, and she silently berated herself for getting such a kick out of fighting with her. 

A modest little voice in the back of Rima’s head (one she didn’t listen to all that often) said that allowing herself to get so tangled with Nadeshiko was dangerous; that Nadeshiko would see all of her shame and secrets and that she would be vulnerable.

Another much louder voice urged her to keep going until she fell all the way. It was a confusing, yet exhilarating feeling that Rima had never experienced before, and that she had trouble admitting even to herself. 

What made it even more bizarre was Nadeshiko’s/Nagihiko's constant persona switching, which she thought should affect her reaction to him, however, it in fact didn’t, at all.

Perhaps, if Rima was as honest as she could be, it made engaging him a little more fun and exciting, especially when they were in public. They were both in on a secret that no one else was, and that added a layer of tension to all of their interplay.

Nevertheless, she did wonder often how it must feel for Nadeshiko to hide her true self. Most boys she knew didn’t even like to be associated with things that were considered ‘girly’. Nadeshiko had to hide her entire identity from everyone, and she did it without complaining.

After reflecting on her own feelings for a while, Rima realized maybe that was part of the reason Nadeshiko sought her out so strongly; her changing persona didn’t deter Rima in the slightest. When Nadeshiko poked and prodded at her Rima’s reaction was written on her face plainly, and apparently Nadeshiko saw the same attraction as when she was Nagihiko.

Giving up hope on completing her English schoolwork, Rima fantasized about what life would be like if Nadeshiko was allowed to be whoever she wanted to be.

_____________________________________________________________________

Elsewhere on campus, a certain blue-haired boy was cutting class without a care in the world. Or so it was at least, until his sister came to disturb his peace.

‘Ikuto! You’re not in class!’ Utau’s shrill voice gave Ikuto a terrible headache.

‘Nothing gets past you, does it?’ 

Deciding that disinterest would be the most effective strategy, Ikuto yawned and feigned indifference.

‘You’re going to get us in a load of trouble, you dink!’ 

Small streams of condensation rose from Utau as she cooked with rage. Unbothered, Ikuto raised an eyebrow.

A sound came out of Utau that was somewhere between an angry huff and an agonized scream. 

‘Amu is going to narc on us! How do you think it will look if you’re blowing off class too?!’

As a result of Utau’s outburst Ikuto nearly fell out of the tree he was resting in. How could Amu possibly know about what he did during the weekend? Granted, he didn’t exactly remember everything that had happened.

‘Alright, alright, just calm down sis.’ 

While he slid down the tree, he wondered what he could possibly say as an excuse. How was he supposed to lie about a situation he didn’t even remember?

‘If they drag us into Tsukasa’s office I’ll make up a story.’

Seemingly Ikuto’s words had little effect to quell Utau’s anger.

‘You better lie well, or we’re both in for a world of shit.’ 

In the time he watched Utau stomp off, Ikuto pondered how to best handle the bad situation he had landed them in. Granted Utau had been telling the truth, it was almost impossible to get off scot-free. The only approach that would get them out of trouble was to go to Amu directly and apologize. 

On the other hand, Ikuto hated admitting guilt in general, especially to girls who got upset over every small thing. Even though he had no memory of the event, he was sure she was just exaggerating. Moreover, Amu was constantly texting and calling him; she clearly longed for his attention. With an arrogant smile plastered on his face, Ikuto went out to find Amu.

Whom, wanting to stay away from prying eyes and was in dire need of some rest, had joined Nadeshiko and Rima to eat lunch outside on the roof.

‘Do you feel any better Amu?’ Nadeshiko asked after Amu had filled her in on all the details.

‘I don’t know.. I guess.’ She sighed and looked at the three of them. ‘Whatever! Who needs boys anyway?’

Nadeshiko returned the sentiment by nodding somewhat awkwardly while Rima shook her head slowly.

‘Yes, they are very annoying from time to time.. But they do have some redeeming qualities..’

‘Like which ones?’ 

The voice that came out of nowhere scared Rima slightly. When she turned around, she saw Ikuto standing a few meters behind them. Irritated, she snapped her fingers at him.

‘Not ones that you have!’ 

Fully prepared to confront him for Amu’s sake, Rima rose, at the same time, Nadeshiko grabbed her arm.

In acknowledgement, Ikuto raised his hands in surrender. 

‘Okay, fine. I’m just here to talk to Amu.’ 

Agitated, Rima scowled at him.

‘She doesn’t have to if she doesn’t want to.’ Nadeshiko said quietly. 

‘No no, it’s okay.’ Amu sighed again. ‘We’ll talk. We  _ need _ to talk.’ 

Resigned, she and Ikuto stalked away. A knot tangled itself at the bottom of Rima’s stomach as she watched her friend walk away.

‘Hopefully this circumstance will resolve itself..’ Nadeshiko said painstakingly.

Above Seiyo academy the clouds drifted by slowly, colored papery white on a sunny day. Lazily, Rima lied back and observed the blue sky. She felt so powerless and annoyed.

‘What if it doesn’t?’ 

The question fell between them like a glass shattering.

‘Then we will support Amu the best we can.’ 

Lost for words, Rima turned her gaze back upwards and closed her eyes. The sun warmed her skin and she tried to follow Nadeshiko’s advice and let it rest.

‘Oh my, it’s so hot.. Shall we go back inside?’ Nadeshiko said in a high pitched voice.

Remembering her promise from earlier, Rima played innocent. 

‘No why don’t we.. cool down a bit?’ 

Feeling a bit suspicious, Nadeshiko swiftly moved to get up, however, not fast enough. With an evil grin on her face, Rima reached behind Nadeshiko and poured the contents of her water bottle down her shirt.

In response, Nadeshiko squawked and jumped back. A dark look crossed her face as she spoke in a suspiciously low tone. 

‘You have to know darling... That this means war!’ 

Nadeshiko dashed forward and reached for her water bottle as Rima skittered away and nearly fell over herself, narrowly avoiding a jet of water Nadeshiko had tried to throw in her direction.

‘Boy, _ darling,  _ You’ll have to try harder than that..!’ Rima ran away and waved at Nadeshiko menacingly.

‘Well, two can play at that game!’ Taking a few steps backward, Nadeshiko launched herself at Rima. Moving like an acrobat, Nadeshiko somersaulted and dove in Rima’s direction.

With a mad giggle, Rima tried to dodge and failed. As a result, Nadeshiko’s arm snaked around her waist as they pivoted back down to the floor. Rima used all her energy to squiggle against Nadeshiko’s grip.

‘You’ll never take me alive!’ She yelled.

Nevertheless, Nadeshiko landed elegantly while Rima still squirmed under her grip. Barely putting in any effort, she poured the rest of her water into Rima’s hair. ‘Aaack!’

Somewhat disgruntled, Rima frowned. 

‘Nade.. why are you so mean?’

‘Ah, my dear, I believe it was you who shot first.’ A kind smile graced Nadeshiko’s face.

Before Rima had thought up a retort to Nadeshiko’s comment, words left her. Nadeshiko still had her arm firmly around Rima’s waist. Accordingly, Rima’s face turned beet-red. Her ability to form sentences seemed to have vanished as all she could phantom was ‘Blah, uhh, errr’.

Thus the silence grew. Nadeshiko noticed and became embarrassed.

‘I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,-’ She started and began to move away.

‘No!’ Rima stopped her. 

‘No, no I’m not uncomfortable.’

Swallowing and sighing heavily, Rima gathered her courage.

‘When I’m with you, I always feel safe.’

It was almost unbearable for Rima to look into Nadeshiko’s eyes, flowing to the brim as they were with sincerity. Then Nadeshiko gently brushed a single strand of wet hair out of Rima’s face.

‘Good to know..’ 

Her touch was so delicate it felt to Rima as if they were frozen in time. When the bell rang, Nadeshiko moved away.

‘Time to go to class, I suppose.’

A wave of sadness and disappointment hit Rima, and she wanted to scream at Nadeshiko. However, all she could say was:

‘Yes, I guess you’re right.’

Not too far away, Ikuto and Amu scrambled away before Rima and Nadeshiko would pass by their hiding spot.

‘So what was that all about?’ Ikuto said.

**________________________________________________________________________**

  
  


Having decided to attend class for a change, Ikuto was bored out of his mind as he listened to the teacher droning on and on about the Pythagoras theorem. He, Amu, and several other unlucky students had been chosen to attend weekly extra Math classes.

Although Ikuto himself was in various extra classes, Amu was just in the math one. She was studious, he knew. Her less than adequate grades were not for lack of effort, but rather because of a lack of skill. In his case it was exactly the other way around. He was smart, but lazy.

Since Amu was such a swot, she absolutely refused to chat with him during class even though no one else was paying attention. As an attempt to make contact, he slid her a note.

_ ‘Do you think Rima and Nadeshiko are fu- dating?’ _

Shortly after opening the piece of paper, Amu turned as red as a brick house.

_ ‘It doesn’t matter what I think, it’s none of our business. If you want to know, ask them yourself.’ _

Irritatedly, Ikuto sighed. Surely she was the biggest square in the entire school. He wondered what he ever saw in her.

_ ‘I thought they were your friends. Aren’t you hurt they haven’t told you?’ _

No reply came after the last sentence Ikuto wrote to her. She merely looked at him, resigned, and shrugged her shoulders. From what he could gather, she was trying to play it cool, but he could see in her eyes that she was troubled. The strategist in him told him now was the moment to act if he wanted to avoid punishment for his apparent misbehavior last weekend.

_ ‘Anyway, we should go to Tsukasa and tell him. Two people who are dating should not be sharing a dorm.’ _

In response, Amu turned in his direction with a shocked look on her face. Bingo. Pretending to be unfazed, he cooly mimicked her shrug from earlier with a raised eyebrow.

_ ‘We can’t do that! Then everyone will know.’ _

Seeing her scribbling away furiously, he knew he had her. Silently, he thanked Rima and Nadeshiko for being in the right place at the right time. One day, provided he had the opportunity, he would thank them for unknowingly saving his hide.

_ ‘Then maybe you should also consider not talking to Tsukasa about me.’ _

The emotions Amu felt were displayed on her face and body like an open book. The moment she read the sentence he had written, her shoulders sagged, and a defeated look graced her features.

_ ‘Fine. Whatever you want.’ _

A wave of relief washed over Ikuto and he vowed to never attend extra Math again, as he tuned out the teacher and fondly remembered last Saturday night. 

_________________________________________________________________________

When class had finished, Amu was immediately surrounded by a swarm of concerned friends and allies. As usual, Ikuto was nowhere to be found. Looking at Tadase’s supportive eyes almost made her weaken her resolve, however, seeing Rima and Nadeshiko smiling at each other strengthened it again.

All of their voices buzzed around her, drowned out by a loud beep that she felt in her ear.

‘We can’t go.’ Was all she could manage to force out.

Fear struck at her, looking at the confused faces that enclosed her.

In reaction, a cacophony of protests broke out, mainly from Rima and Yaya. Ever her supporter, Tadase silenced them.

‘If she doesn’t want us to go, we’re not going to Tsukasa.’ He said with a degree of authority.

This was all it took to quiet the upset around her. Tiredly, she willed herself to listen to what the others around her were saying.

‘... Smug bastard.’ Was what she managed to catch from Rima.

‘It’s okay, Rima, I’m fine. He’s not worth the trouble, let’s not give him the satisfaction.’ She tried to speak with a degree of maturity, nevertheless, Kukai, Nadeshiko, and Tadase did not seem fooled by it.

An oppressive stillness swept over the group as everyone was thinking about a solution. 

Nadeshiko waded through the crowd and looked at Amu with a kind smile.

‘Perhaps it is still wise you switch dorms with Kukai, even without Tsukasa’s permission. For your own safety.’

In spite of Amu’s protests, Kukai nodded solemnly and dragged Amu along in order to make the switch as fast as possible.

With a light jog Rima and Nadeshiko dashed after them. Having arrived at Kukai’s dorm, he began to stuff all of the mess he had managed to make in two weeks back into his suitcase. Enthusiastically Amu assisted him. Outside of the dorm, Rima and Nadeshiko hastily discussed in whispers.

‘We should still go, with or without Amu. There’s no way she just ‘changed her mind’ after talking to Ikuto. He definitely did something!’ Rima was furious.

Nadeshiko shook her head. ‘Absolutely not. If he threatened her, we should not put her in danger. The right course of action is to confront Ikuto.’

Resolved to remedy the situation, Rima nodded thoughtfully. Right after Kukai and Amu came barging out of the room.

‘All done?’ Nadeshiko asked airily. 

‘Possibly, Amu could wait here with Rima while Kukai and I take his belongings to Amu’s dorm and vice versa?’

An unspoken agreement passed between Nadeshiko and Rima, and Rima nodded eagerly before Amu could protest. As soon as one party had trounched off to Amu’s dorm, Rima dragged Amu in the room and shut the door.

‘What happened? What did he say to you? Spill it.’

For her 4’10 inches, Rima felt as tall as Godzilla to Amu at that moment.

An awkward laugh escaped from Amu. ‘What are you talking about? Nothing happened.’

Consequently, Rima pointed an accusing finger at Amu. 

‘Don’t play dumb with me. You were ready to tell on him until you had a ‘talk’ this afternoon.’

Panic radiated from Amu in droves as she was trying to come up with an excuse.

‘Well?’ Rima poured on more pressure.

‘It’s because.. Because..’ Dumbfounded, Rima started to notice Amu was stuttering and sweating. ‘We saw you and Nadeshiko!’ She blurted out.

Still seeing Rima confused, Amu added; ‘On the rooftop of the school!’

Slowly, the gears started turning in Rima’s head and now it was her turn to be embarrassed. 

‘So what?’ She dared.

‘So Ikuto said he would tell everyone you were dating!’

‘Dating...?’ Rima asked.

When the words left Amu’s mouth, Rima realized what the situation must have seemed like to a third person observing it. In the back of her head, she had known their interactions weren’t one of a normal friendship, regardless, their situation wasn’t exactly normal. While Amu’s concern for her and Nadeshiko was considerate, she couldn’t conceive why Amu would deem Rima’s reputation more important than her own well-being.

‘Are you?’ She asked shyly.

‘Am I what?’ Rima asked, even though she understood the question perfectly well.

‘Are you dating Nadeshiko?’

It had been naive of them to think, Rima mused, that no one else could see what they saw. Notwithstanding Ms. Fujisaki, Rima hadn’t deemed anyone perceptive enough to see the spark between herself and Nadeshiko. Foolishly, she had assumed no one would bat an eye because they were both girls, or thought to be girls.

Therefore it was difficult for Rima to answer the question. No, but she would really like to, didn’t seem to cover the myriad of feelings she had for Nadeshiko/Nagihiko.

‘Well, no… It’s more than a friendship, for sure, I guess.’

The words tumbled out stunted and clumsily. A heavy silence hung between the two of them, both red and flustered. Frustrated that she had let Amu distract her from her true goal, Rima thrummed on.

‘Forget me and Nadeshiko. That’s between me and her. Listen, it doesn’t matter to me if the whole school knows, they could show it on the news for all I care. Ikuto deserves punishment, and we are going to tell Tsukasa.’

With a clear expression of relief, Amu nodded jerkily. 

‘Okay. But you should check with Nadeshiko first.’

_ No no no no. _ Although the whole school could know, would know, she couldn’t discuss it with Nadeshiko. It was simply impossible. What if Nadeshiko rejected her, or laughed at her? Lest Nadeshiko said no, they would never be together again, even as friends. A deep dark settled itself inside Rima, and fought with her desire to be a good friend to Amu.

Amu needed her, Rima knew. Needed her to help keep her safe.

‘Of course. I’ll tell you tomorrow.’

Amu nodded cheerfully and Rima felt her heart sink.

Not long after, Kukai and Nadeshiko burst back in with Amu’s luggage.

‘All ready for Miss Hinamori!’ Kukai said with a toothy grin.

Appreciatively, Amu returned his smile and sat down on the bottom bunk bed. While Kukai dragged Amu’s baggage around the room, Nadeshiko shot Rima an inquisitive look.

With an aura full of pretense, Nadeshiko looked at her watch and then at Kukai.

‘Oh my! I’m afraid we shall miss supper if we don’t leave now.’ 

Easily Kukai fell for Nadeshiko’s trick, Rima noted with a mixture of amusement and apprehension. After muttering some sort of suspicious excuse, he bolted out of the room in the direction of the dining hall.

An expression of courage appeared on Amu’s face that Rima didn’t like one bit. Before Amu could let the cat out of the bag, however, Nadeshiko did it for her.

‘Amu, love,’ She started ‘Did you and Rima have a chance to talk?’

‘Yes.’ Amu smiled brightly. ‘We will go talk to Tsukasa tomorrow if you’re okay with it.’

This puzzled Nadeshiko slightly, evident by the look of confusion on her face.

‘And what, pray tell, should I be okay with?’


	18. Crescendo

A dreadful silence fell between them. Rima felt dizzy and unsteady on her feet, admiring Nadeshiko’s dazzling violet hair that shone with streaks of lavender as the sun peeked through the curtains. Without paying her any mind, Rima heard Amu mutter an excuse and she dashed like a thief in the night.

Amu’s uncharacteristic departure added more tension to the already weighted atmosphere. Suddenly Rima seemed very interested in her shoes, and Nadeshiko’s gaze made its way toward the ceiling. While Rima stole peeks at Nadeshiko she was struck by her beauty. Her eyes shifted to and fro. The light in the room caught her eyes, making the gold orbs shine.

All ability for words seemed to have left Rima without warning.

‘Why are the both of you acting so strange?’ Nadeshiko asked. ‘What is it I should know?’

Inadvertently, Rima turned as pink as a new-born and spluttered.

‘During lunch Amu and Ikuto… watched us.’

A confused look appeared on Nadeshiko’s face. Nevertheless, she nodded avidly.

‘Amu doesn’t want to report to Tsukasa because…’ Rima stuttered. ‘Because then Ikuto will tell everyone that you and I are dating!’

In an unprecedented fashion, Nadeshiko also appeared to be flustered.

‘And supposedly he got this impression from watching us interact?’

Rima nodded by way of confirmation.

Nadeshiko sighed irritatedly. Out of the blue, she patted the vacant space next to her on the bed.

‘Please sit.’

Seeing no reason to disobey her friend, Rima scurried and sat down next to her. As a result of the afternoon sun starting to set, Nadeshiko’s hair caught more light and briefly resembled a great wave as she pulled it loose from her ponytail with vigour.

A smile halfway between friendly and prederatory settled its way onto her face that frightened Rima slightly.

‘Do you want to date me?’ Rima asked in a small voice. ‘Do you like me?’

In his answer, Nadeshiko slipped away and Nagihiko came in her place. His voice dropped several octaves.

‘Yes to both.’

Rima’s heart leaped with joy and she felt weightless. All of the sudden, Nagihiko looked at her with a very sincere expression that she had never seen before. Timidly, he reached for her hand and squeezed it.

‘It won’t be easy... ‘ Nagihiko winced, as if he was in pain. ‘Mother will throw a fit. The school will be in uproar…’

Yet Rima did not let it deter her. 

‘I don’t care what anyone else thinks.’ She looked at Nagihiko shyly. ‘I just care about you.’

Many emotions flashed on Nagihiko’s face. Surprise, grief, adoration. Accordingly, his hold on Rima’s hand tightened. After he had taken a few moments to collect himself he dared to steal another look at her. The solemness in his eyes took her breath away.

Shocked by her own boldness, Rima leaned forward. ‘Can I kiss you?’ She murmured.

Without hesitation, he shifted forward and gave her somewhat of a half nod. Lightning shot through her spine as he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close. 

Their foreheads touched and Rima took a small shaky breath. She could count all of his long eyelashes that rested on top of his gold-colored eyes.

When he traced her cheek with his free hand, she felt the heat it left in its wake. While he lingered, the sensations Rima felt were nearly unbearable and yet so wonderful.

Just as she thought she could take no more, he leaned over to whisper in her ear.

‘I’ve wanted this… for a very long time.’ 

Nothing short of a self-satisfied smirk made its way onto his face that Rima would have wanted to wipe off if she didn’t want him to kiss her so badly.

Rima was sure she had turned as red as the Seiyo schoolcape she donned. For sure Nagihiko was enjoying tormenting her. 

However, she had to remind him she was not to be trifled with. She would beat him at his own game.

In response she dug one hand into his back and the other into his right arm, coupled with a sharp intake of breath. Innocently she looked at him through his lashes while she groaned delicately.

‘Please…’ She purred. ‘Don’t make me wait anymore…’

Evidently her actions had the desired result, as Nagihiko looked heated. A small smile that played at her lips betrayed her, and Nagihiko huffed.

‘Do you always need to one-up me?’

There was no chance to reply as Nagihiko closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against hers.

A flutter started in Rima’s heart and spread itself through her whole body. The soft press of Nagihiko’s lips and the taste of his strawberry chapstick made her feel lightheaded. 

Impatiently, she sucked on his bottom lip and she felt him smile. Electricity shot through her limbs as she felt his tongue against hers.

Everything else vanished to the background. Every worry she felt about her parents and about Amu became muted and her world faded to just the two of them. That is to say, the feel of his breath on her skin, the grip of his arm on her waist, and the feel of his soft lips on hers.

It was tremendous, the inner peace she felt at that moment. 

All the complicated pieces fell together at once, and she could clearly see the result they should produce. For the first time she felt that the two of them could be together despite all of the circumstances. 

The gentleness in his touch made her feel all the things he couldn’t or wouldn’t say. It made her believe they could overcome all of the prejudices that people held against them.

Disappointment rang sharply when he pulled away.

‘Perhaps we should consider making an appearance at dinner?’ 

The moment had ended, as Nagihiko pulled his hair back into his staple ponytail and changed his voice to Nadeshiko’s soft soprano.

Downhearted, Rima pouted. ‘Must we?’

Nadeshiko responded with a sharp little grin. 

‘Ah well, Rima darling, if you are so saddened, I’m certain you could get some extra dessert afterwards.’

With a scandalized expression, Rima pretended to clutch her imaginary pearls and spoke in a high-pitched voice. 

‘Oh my Nadeshiko, what are you suggesting? That we slip away together in a location where others are unlikely to find us? How unbecoming of a young lady!’

‘Me? I would never!’

As a result she let a dainty laugh that Rima found strangely endearing.

________________________________________________________________________

At the other side of the building, in the dining hall, Amu was miserably poking at her food while staring up at the high-vaulted ceiling. 

Even the beautifully shaped domes and blue-purple stained windows could do nothing to cheer her up. Seated next to her, Ikuto was holding court to Kukai and Utau. 

To her own surprise, she was very irritated with the way they hung on his lips and believed him like children. Moreover, she was disgusted with the idea that she had once been like that as well.

Startling her out of her reverie, Ikuto poked her in the side and pointed at Rima and Nadeshiko who had just entered the hall, no less than forty minutes late for dinner.

‘Look at those two.’ Ikuto leered suggestively.

All the hairs on Amu’s neck stood on end, and she felt very cross.

‘What of them?’

She could pretend all she wanted to be none the wiser, nevertheless, of course she knew what was going on between them. 

‘If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they just had a pretty rough roll in the hay.’

A loud smack was heard as Amu’s hand connected with the back of Ikuto’s head.

‘Enough already!’ She yelled at him.

  
‘You wound me, Amu.’

She turned up her nose at him and huffed. 

‘It’s Hinamori for you if you don’t improve your behavior fast!’

‘Amu, don’t be such a tight-ass.’ Utau chimed in.

After Utau had joined in, the conversation more or less continued on as it had before. Despite her best efforts it was difficult to ignore their mindless chatter entirely.

It was obvious to her now, unlike previously, that Ikuto’s cool facade was hiding a manipulative person. The more threatened he felt, the more he lashed out.

Dinner progressed slowly. Her meal turned into mush as she kept poking and prodding at it until it disintegrated. 

‘Are you going to eat that?’ 

With an irritated sigh, Amu pushed her plate towards Kukai who did not hesitate to stuff it down his gob immediately.

‘Is it just me, or is this the most boring day ever?’ Utau complained loudly. ‘Even goody-two shoes is not feeling it today.’

Anger rose in Amu’s cheeks. She desperately wished to have her food back, so she could chuck a portion of it at Utau’s face. 

In any case, she could tell Utau was trying to rile her up, but she did not know for what purpose. Looking at her face reminded her of Ikuto when he was being obnoxious. All in all they were siblings in some ways she surmised.

For her own sake, she tried to emulate Rima’s cool detachment when she was talking to one of her ‘fans’.

Amu shrugged. ‘School is supposed to be boring.’

‘You’re boring-’ She began, however, seemed to be interrupted and shot a dirty look in Ikuto’s direction. 

‘Let’s try and make it better together. Isn’t that what the guardians are all about?’

Along with her words, her facial expression gave Amu a restless feeling.

In hindsight, she shouldn’t have taken the bait. Be that as it may, she could not stand to let Utau talk to her like a child. 

‘Make it better how?’

‘Let’s meet up after curfew and find out!’

Her cheerful words had a stale tone to it that Amu didn’t find believable. 

Apparently the challenge had the ability to pull Kukai’s attention from his food. By taking one look at his face, one could immediately tell what he’d had for dinner because it was smeared everywhere. It made Amu’s stomach churn.

‘No, not tonight.’ 

His peaceful resolve made it clear that he was nog going to change his mind. Whereas Amu found it admirable, Utau was vexed.

Regardless, he smiled at her serenely. ‘I’ll make it up to you.’

By the time dinner ended, Amu thanked her lucky stars Kukai had been there to support her. How was it possible she let Ikuto and Utau get to her so much? Another blonde head appeared at the table and Amu was glad to see it was Tadase.

‘Ready Amu?’ His serene composure made her feel more calm.

‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’ She answered in a shaky voice.


	19. Amends made

Footsteps echoed in the calm hallway. He heard voices in the distance.

The world outside was cloaked in utter darkness, the only source of light being the old-fashioned chandeliers that dangled from the ceiling. In due time the voices began to secede and the only sound that was heard were his own footfalls, and the slight buzzing and ticking vibrations made by the radiators in dire need of replacement.

With every step he came closer to the place his mind resisted him in going, therefore he shut it off entirely and felt like a ghost wandering the school.

Until at last the dreaded door appeared in the forefront of his vision. There was absolutely no need to knock, he knew; for its inhabitant was already made aware he was coming. Yet he did so regardless, lest him neglecting to do so would even further aid his undoing.

‘Please enter.’ Said the voice from inside the office.

And so he did. After all, he knew none of the emotions he saw in his stepfather’s face would be waiting for him, so he was not truly frightened.

All though, perhaps the rage and fury would be better. It hurt him far more to see Tsukasa’s gentle disappointment.

‘Mr.Tsukiyomi, have a seat.’ 

Miraculously, in spite of the entire building being renovated, the headmasters office had remained exactly the same. An uncountable amount of books lined the walls and small windows hardly let any light through. 

The ceiling, walls and floor were all made from the same wood. Everytime Ikuto had stepped into the office it felt like stepping a century back in time, in the literal and figurative sense.

In days of yore he had spent many a carefree afternoon here, waiting on Tsukasa to finish his work. Better days, he reflected sadly. Easier days.

‘No need to be so formal.’ Ikuto quipped.

‘I’m afraid this situation requires some formality.’ 

There it was. The melancholic tone of voice, the slight bitterness in his smile. Ikuto couldn’t stand it.

Unwilling to cook-up any kind of reply, Ikuto motioned Tsukasa to move on.

‘I think you know why I called you here.’

Evident by the look he cast at Ikuto and the silence which he decided to prolong, Tsukasa expected Ikuto to start groveling apologies. If he thought Ikuto would drop to his knees and beg for forgiveness, he thought wrong. Again Ikuto stayed silent.

‘Very well then. Hinamori and friends visited me today with an alarming story about a visit you paid to her house.’

The irony that he was first made aware of what he had actually done when he was already in deep trouble did not escape Ikuto. For a brief while, he considered lying. However, he realized Tsukasa knew him too well.

‘To be honest, I don’t remember much of what happened that weekend.’ 

There was no point in trying to seem aloof in front of Tsukasa, and yet he tried nevertheless.

‘And why is that?’ 

All of his instincts screamed at him to find some way to tell a lie. 

To not involve anyone else in this mess. Despite the world of pain he knew he would be in for, it was too difficult to withstand Tsukasa’s benign prodding. Ikuto cursed his own stupidity in not approaching another teacher who would have handled the situation differently.

‘That Saturday, my stepfather gave me and Utau a bottle of whiskey and told us to get lost for a while.’ 

In shame, he swallowed. Why did it still bother him? Why did he still expect the cold, heartless man to be nice to him, even after all this time?

Ever understanding, Tsukasa reached out and squeezed his hand. 

‘I understand the situation is painful. Even so, I cannot allow you to speak to female students in this manner.’

Silently, Ikuto hung his head in disgrace. Tsukasa was right. The whole day, he and Utau had been so focused on covering their tracks and finding a way to escape punishment. Never once had he stopped and considered to even ask Amu what had happened, or how he could atone for it.

‘I’m sorry.’ 

Truly, he had lost count how many times he’d been in this situation, apologizing to Tsukasa for all of the mistakes he had made.

‘Don’t apologize to me, apologize to Miss Hinamori.’ 

He continued. ‘I can no longer turn to look the other way. There will be consequences… By the same token, it’s high time we discuss your living situation. It can no longer continue like this.’

A good son would protest, Ikuto thought. A good son would not agree.

‘Your worries for your mother are natural. Nevertheless, it is not the child that cares for the parent, rather the parent should care for the child.’

Ikuto opened his mouth to protest, but Tsukasa cut him off.

‘I know, I know, you are not a child anymore. However, you are not an adult either.’

For a brief moment he paused, and changed his tone from stern to kind.

‘Do you even have time to do homework after you are finished picking up after her? How do you expect to succeed in the world when you spend all of your time caring for your mother?’

A chill came over Ikuto, and he started shaking. He refused to cry. Only children cried. He would not show Tsukasa his tears, he wouldn’t give him that.

As a result, Tsukasa let out a loud sigh filled with sorrow, and rubbed one hand over his face with a distressed look. For the most part he wished Ikuto well, but out of pity. Ikuto didn’t want pity, he wanted change.

‘Listen, it’s been a demanding conversation.’ He said with kindness in his eyes. 

‘Go apologize to Miss Hinamori, and tell Miss Hoshina that your and her residence will be changing soon.’

In view of the severity of Tsukasa’s conclusions, Ikuto felt that he should have protested more. Regardless, as soon as he had met Tsukasa’s eyes, he knew he didn’t have the energy to lie to him or argue with him. He just wasn’t capable of it.

‘Tomorrow after classes you will report your progress to me, and I will tell you what your punishment is.’

Mechanically, he managed the bare politeness of nodding to Tsukasa on his way out and closing the heavy door with an acceptable amount of volume. 

If he had felt like a ghost walking the halls before, he now felt like a cloud of dust being blown about by the current.

Be that as it may, it was not at all challenging to think of what he should say to Amu. Now that he had faced the worst possible aftereffect that his actions could have, apologizing seemed like child’s play.

As had been deftly explained by Tsukasa, he had gotten himself into this predicament.

After a short knock on the door, Utau answered it in her pajamas. Ikuto’s heart twisted painfully as he saw her face light up with joy.

‘Are we going out?’ She asked.

He shook his head. ‘There is something we have to talk about.’ 

Surprisingly, Amu was present in the dorm as well.

‘Were the two of you really planning on breaking curfew today?’

‘No.’ Amu replied coolly. ‘Kukai and I switched rooms.’

All though he understood Amu’s point of view completely, it still hurt that she had started to mistrust him so fast. Just like everyone else, a mean voice said to him. He vowed to not let it bother him.

‘Alright, that’s fine.’ 

His response seemed to surprise her if her facial expression were any indication. 

‘Can we talk in private for a bit?’

She shot a measuring look in his direction. ‘Okay…’

Consequently, he motioned for her to step into the hallway, and closed the door of the dorm behind her under Utau’s protests. Tired and haggard, she looked down at the floor, clearly wanting the conversation to be over as soon as possible. A new wave of guilt hit him.

Suddenly he felt very awkward. 

‘So… can you tell me exactly what happened this weekend? Then I know what to apologize for.’

Amu’s mouth fell open in surprise. ‘You mean to say you don’t remember?!’

‘I was very drunk. The entire night is blurry.’

As soon as she had filled him in with all the details, he felt remorseful. He had terrorized a girl and made her feel unsafe. It was not as harmless as he had assumed.

‘I’m so, so sorry Ames. I’ve been a complete douche the last couple of days and I feel guilty. I don’t know how you put up with me.’

‘Neither do I.’ She replied spitefully. ‘Can you let me go back to sleep now?’

He sighed and opened the door for her. Without delay Utau stormed out angrily. She crashed head-first into Ikuto’s chest and yelled angrily.

‘What is going on!?’

Amu went back into the dorm and said nothing, leaving Ikuto alone to tell her the news.

‘There is something you should know.’ He began. ‘Let’s go for a walk.’

________________________________________________________________________

With a vague notion Rima registered the sound of voices coming alarmingly close, regardless, a much stronger instinct told her not to disentangle herself from Nagihiko.

‘Nagi…’ It sounded like more of a breathy moan than a reproach.

‘Hm?’ The reply came. 

At this instant, Rima discerned that he was somewhere half-way down her neck, and wondered how it was possible that she had not noticed.

‘There’s… ugh…’ Remarkably, he had already found a spot that made her fall apart.

Once he kissed her at the juncture of her collarbone it was hard to focus her thoughts.

‘People… coming…’

Now that he had detected it as well, they sprang apart and listened to what was by all appearances a heated discussion.

The conversation was altogether hard to understand, as the sounds were hushed and not very close to the alcove where Rima and Nagihiko were hiding.

However, the gleam of blue and blond hair was unmistakable, and rapidly approaching.

‘Let’s not listen to their conversation, it wouldn’t be proper. We should try to make a break for it.’ 

The feel of his breath on her ears sent stings down Rima’s neck, and she tried her hardest to tune in to what he was saying.

She looked him up and down. 

‘And how exactly were you planning on doing that without them seeing you? You look very manly.’

A smile filled with joy and mischievousness graced his face. ‘Why thank you.’

Irritated, she hit him in the arm. 

‘That’s obviously not what I meant, birdbrain.’

However, he didn’t have time to reply, as the bickering siblings had come closer. They were now within hearing distance. Rima and Nagihiko traded concerned looks, nevertheless, it was now too late to run.

From a few feet away it was easily deduced that the atmosphere between the two was incredibly tense. Even at her most veracious had Rima never seen Utau this full of indignation. Thankfully, they paused just before the corner where Rima and Nagihiko were hidden, and an uncomfortable quietness surrounded them.

On the contrary, this did not last for long as the girl launched into an enraged rant.

‘I can’t believe it, you fucking moron!’ 

Immediately Rima and Nagihiko exchanged shocked glances, due to neither of them ever having heard her use such lingo against her brother before.

‘How could you be so damn stupid?! How is mom going to survive without us? Who is going to take care of her? All you had to do was keep your head down and lie, for once in your fucking life!’ 

By all indication she seemed hellbent on letting him know the extent of her fury.

‘Utau-’ He began before she cut him off.

‘No, NO! This is all your fault!’ 

Exhausted, she took in quick short breaths. Subsequently, her tone became more subdued. 

‘When we leave mom will be… will be…’ She started to shake and her words came out haphazardly. ‘All alone…’ 

During one terrible moment, no one made a sound, until Utau burst into tears.

Without saying anything, Ikuto threw an arm around her and led her back towards the way they had come under Utau’s weak protests.


	20. a Dance in the Fire

On a spring day, the clouds hung lazily in the sky with no wind to push them along. Blue was everywhere the eye could look; the sun lightened it to become nearly piercing in its intensity.

The separation between the earth and the firmament was harsh to look at since the green stood out so sharply against the cerulean.

So much so that Rima had long ago closed her eyes, and was now listening to the sound of their breathing, and their fellow students playing football a few feet away. Amus’ was so soft and consistent she appeared to have fallen asleep.

Both of them stirred when Nadeshiko got up. It seemed Rima’s suspicions were correct, as Amu blinked sleepily at Nadeshiko’s standing form.

‘Please excuse me.’ Nadeshiko bowed her head slightly. ‘I have a study period.’

While she gracefully strutted away, Amu and Rima watched her. The amount of poise in Nadeshiko never failed to impress Rima. Although, she surmised, he was trained to express himself as a girl. Doubtlessly, this made a staggering difference.

Dreamily, Amu laid back down in the grass, with the clear intent of dozing off again.

Something made her change her mind. In a moment's notice she turned over to face Rima with an eager-looking expression. 

With a curious look Rima raised her eyebrows.

In general, Amu’s entire reply was a nod, which confused Rima a great deal. Annoyed, Rima shrugged.

Amu nodded with a lot more vigor in order to clarify matters. This time it occured to Rima to look in the direction Amu was nodding to.

‘Aah.’ She said with a flat tone.

‘Well?’ The excitement was radiating from Amu.

Half amused and half agitated, Rima carefully thought about how she should reply. She was not speaking of her own affairs solely, after all.

‘It’s complicated.’ She decided on.

‘Oh come on Rima! I told you about Ikuto.’

‘Yes, and you told Tsukasa about it as well.’

Defeated, Amu pouted. ‘No fair!’ 

At this instant she resembled Yaya more than she ever had before. Although Yaya’s tactics were more aggressive and more effective.

‘Fine!’ 

Beside owing Amu somewhat of an explanation for getting her involved in her own and Nadeshiko’s liaison, Rima was also glad to be able to confide in someone who wouldn’t bellow it from the rooftops. 

Being with Nagihiko had brought her nothing but happiness, nevertheless, it was an unstable situation at best. 

He’d even gone so far as mentioning it just a moment before they’d shared their first kiss. Truthfully, Rima didn’t know much of Nagihiko’s home life, and therefore it was difficult to understand what was at stake. 

In addition to floating through the school on a pink cloud at Nagihiko’s side, Rima had also been worrying where it would all lead. 

‘Everything is perfect, except for having to keep it a secret from everyone.’ 

She pulled a few strands of grass from the ground.

Amu winced sympathetically. ‘That must suck.’

‘It does.’

A companionable silence fell between them.

‘Perfect how?’ 

The squeal that came from Amu would have disgusted Rima not too long ago. Now everything had changed, and she understood the sentiment to its full extent.

Rima’s cheeks heated up in response, and she laid back down in the grass and felt herself go red.

‘It’s weird. She puts me on edge and also makes me feel calm. Does that make sense?’

Amu nodded avidly.

‘And when we kiss it’s like…’ 

The words didn’t come so easy now. In spite of it, Amu still seemed interested. 

‘Like there is no one else in the world…’ 

Rima felt embarrassed for being so corny.

‘Oh Rima, that’s so romantic!’

There was no denying it. She was a love-sick fool, just like Amu.

‘And… and…’ 

Rima put her face in her hands, willing her skin to turn back to a normal color.

‘Nadeshiko wants to touch me… all the time. Is that normal?‘

‘With boys, yeah, that’s how it goes.’ Amu said sagely. ‘I suppose with girls, there is one that is more dominant?’

Scandalized, Rima opened her mouth to protest. Then Amu winked at her, after which Rima hit her on her arm. Eventually they both broke out in giggles that turned into full-blown laughter.

When they had calmed down, Rima continued the conversation.

‘Speaking of boys, what happened with Ikuto?’ 

Upon reflection, it was a strange question to ask for Rima. By all means and purposes, she now knew more about Ikuto’s situation than Amu likely did. Alas, it was not her business to divulge. At least not for now.

Straightaway Amu’s face twisted into a sad, conflicted expression and Rima regretted asking.

‘He apologized. Let’s leave it at that.’

Silently Rima reached out to grasp Amu’s hand, and they sat like that for a while. When Rima squeezed, Amu squeezed back.

________________________________________________________________________

Having decided to drop in just before dinner, Rima found Nadeshiko changing in the bathroom, blasting obnoxious music that screeched in Rima’s ears. Western music, Rima felt, possessed none of the subtlety or grace of Japanese music. Whereas listening to a koto performance was like trotting on a beautiful horse through a forest, listening to a modern Western pop song was like being hit by a freight train.

'What is this noise?’ She demanded.

Fluttering into the room in her skirt and blouse, Nadeshiko pretended to look shocked.

‘It’s jazz, Rima. A harmony of cacophonic sounds.’

Realizing she might still escape having to listen to an explanation of the mysterious words that had left Nadeshiko’s lips, she tried to scurry past her into the bathroom, but Nadeshiko stopped her in her tracks.

‘Shall we dance?’

Rima laughed audibly.

‘Me? Dance? Do you know me at all?’ She asked accusatory.

A mannish smile appeared on Nadeshiko’s face that made Rima’s heart skip a beat. 

‘It’s not very difficult.’ She explained. ‘All you have to do is swing back and forth.’

‘Let’s not take any risks. Neither of us wants to go to the hospital.’ 

Nadeshiko smiled exasperatedly, and it made Rima melt.

‘Fine.’ She conceded. ‘But remember that I warned you.’

A song with a slower rhythm suddenly started to play and Rima idly wondered if Nadeshiko had somehow masterfully planned it all. In an instant, Nadeshiko pulled her close and helped her sway to the music. 

‘Rima.’ No one had ever said her name like that before. It sounded like a prayer.

‘Yes?’ She whispered back.

‘Remember to move your feet.’

With dread, Rima awaited the lecture on the proper steps, but it never came. Instead, Nadeshiko’s eyes bored into her own as the music blared on.

The intensity was enormous, however, Rima didn’t feel uncomfortable in the slightest. The emotions in Nadeshiko’s eyes were brimming over and Rima wished they could be frozen that way. 

By the same token, she wished she could lay Nadeshiko bare, and see all that lurked behind her mysterious exterior.

What was she really thinking? Why did she have such pain in her eyes sometimes? What had caused her to always act with such caution? On occasion, Rima wanted to ask her all of it, nevertheless, she realized things were not so simple.

After what seemed like an eternity and no time at all, the music stopped. Nadeshiko smiled sadly, and moved to collect her cape from her bed. Out of longing, Rima grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

There was an urgency in her movement that Rima noticed for the first time. All of their other kisses had been sweet, slow and unhurried. When their lips met, Nadeshiko was rough, and her touch was filled with passion.

Her arms snaked around Rima’s waist, and she pulled her as close as she could. As their tongues battled for dominance, Rima’s knees went weak and her toes curled.

Suddenly Rima felt her back hit a wall, and Nadeshiko’s hands went from her back to her jawline and the other tangled in her hair. They kissed until Rima’s lungs burned and she pulled away to be able to breathe.

The look on Nadeshiko’s face surprised her enormously. Never before had she seen Nadeshiko so red, and so bereft of composure. Her expression could only be described as ashamed. While she collected herself, she looked down at the ground.

‘I got a little carried away…’ She murmured, looking everywhere but Rima’s face.

‘I wasn’t very tender…’

In response, Rima couldn’t help but smile, as it was an immense pleasure to see Nadeshiko show her true self.

‘It’s okay… ‘ Rima began. ‘I liked it.’

Stunned silence was written over Nadeshiko’s face, and Rima enjoyed the thought that she held this kind of power over her.

‘Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.’ Was the last thing she said with a mischievous smile before heading into the bathroom.

_________________________________________________________________________

  
  


After being shut inside the school several hours during a beautiful day, the students and teachers had collectively decided they were done with it. Therefore, the headmaster had been roused to do something about it.

In a typical fashion, Tsukasa had disturbed them in the middle of dinner to announce they would have bonfires that night. As a result, everyone would be allowed to stay up past curfew which was cause for celebration regardless of its reason. The announcement had not come a moment too late, as the atmosphere between the guardians was still quite tense.

Nevertheless, they had all gathered in front of the fire together, while similarly pockets of students were spread all around the school’s field. Staring into the fire for too long made Rima’s eyes water, regardless, the brightness of the flames was naught compared to the vivid shine of the stars and moon in the sky.

Slightly entranced by the shades of purple in Nadeshiko’s hair, Rima was jolted when Tadase spoke up.

‘What are everyone’s plans for the weekend?’

A cold breeze blew through the group when Utau shot Tadase an icy glare. A shudder went down Rima’s back when Tadase opened his mouth to reply and Utau upped her intensity.

‘We’re moving.’ Ikuto answered in her stead. 

In response, she turned to glower at him and her look was positively glacial. After an indifferent shrug Utau punched him in the arm.

‘Do you need any help?’ Kukai dared. 

Although Utau’s face said no, she nodded jerkily. ‘That would be nice.’ She mumbled.

A distinct feeling came over Rima that she had somehow missed something, but she decided not to pay it any mind.

In the silence, Rima noticed Amu shivering. Slowly she pulled on her arm to scoot her closer to her and Nadeshiko.

‘Are you not feeling warm enough?’ Rima whispered.

‘I’m fine.’ She whispered back.

Tadase seemed to take notice of their little tete-a-tete and looked at them curiously. 

‘Do you have any plans, Amu?’

With astonishment, Rima observed Amu completely losing her cool, becoming red and stuttering. For this reason she decided to answer for her.

‘She’s sleeping over with me and Nadeshiko on Saturday, but she’s free to meet you on Sunday. That’s what you wanted to know, right?’

Lost for words, Tadase nodded slowly while Nadeshiko politely giggled. Amu frowned at her, but without any intent behind it. 

In the meantime Rima waited for both of them to agree on times and places, however, evidently there was a serious lack of spine and therefore neither of them made a move. Consequently Rima surmised it was okay for her to do it.

‘So, Tadase, the mall is close to your house, I think?’ 

Wordlessly Tadase moved his head as to agree.

‘Amu, I think you can make twelve if you leave early. Also, you definitely want to have dinner at your house and an evening to finish all of your homework.’

Silence again. Rima felt a little irritated.

‘Well, Amu, Tadase, it’s a date?’

Two shy nods consented to their date that hadn’t gotten much of their own input. Nadeshiko snorted in a manner that was most unfeminine and Rima raised her eyebrows haughtily. In response, Nadeshiko tittered into her sleeve.

As the fire continued to crackle, a calm fell over all of them. The cold and dark surrounding the fire crept into Rima’s bones, and she shivered involuntarily.

A chilly spring breeze blew past them and she moved a little closer to Nadeshiko, who put her arm around Rima.


	21. Blossoming

Ms. Fujisaki’s grace in her movement was similar to Nadeshiko’s, Rima noticed, but it lacked warmth and had a sharp edge to it.

To say the conversation was stunted or awkward would have been an understatement, as there was no conversation to speak of.

Both Ms. Fujisaki’s and Ms. Mashiro’s faces were marred with equal parts venom and unfriendliness, and were averse to being the first to speak.

Therefore Rima busied herself by intently studying Nadeshiko’s mother as she passed the pitcher of water.

Rima heard a ringing sound, and Nadeshiko rose, however, Ms. Fujisaki motioned her to sit back down.

‘Please continue to eat supper. I will answer the telephone.’

A collective exhale of breath was heard from the two Mashiro’s when Ms. Fujisaki left the room. As a result of the troubled look in her mother's general demeanor, Rima almost felt bad for her. 

The Fujisaki’s were a very ‘proper’ household and Ms. Fujisaki looked at Rima’s mother the same way one might look at a dead animal at the side of the road; with pity, but also with a great deal of disgust.

‘How was school this week?’ Ms. Mashiro dared. ‘Did you sleep early every day?’

Rima rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, we did.’

Evidently Nadeshiko had more patience than Rima. 

‘Of course, Ms. Mashiro. We know how important a good nights’ rest is.’

Unlike the teachers at school who always fell for Nadeshiko’s charm and manners, Rima’s mother wasn’t so easily fooled.

‘Oh, come on now. Surely you stayed up a little late one night, talking about boys and whatnot.’ 

In this case Rima didn’t find her mothers’ ignorance of Nadeshiko's true sex amusing in the least. She saw Nadeshiko’s slight flinch and she felt bad for ever having teased her about it. If her expression were any indication, Nadeshiko felt distressed in more ways than one.

‘I can assure you my daughter does no such thing.’ 

The moment she entered Ms. Fujisaki instantly came to her child’s defense.

Thus the war was redeclared and the hatchet was dug back up. In an instant, the muscles in Ms. Mashiro’s shoulders tensed and her eyebrows knitted together in a frustrated fashion.

‘It’s normal behavior for girls of this age. I don’t know what kind of house you keep, but Rima is allowed to go out with boys.’

If she wasn’t terrified their mothers were going to brawl, Rima could have celebrated this remark as a victory.

The mark of anger in a Fujisaki was subtle, yet to an expert like Rima it was obvious. Ms. Fujisaki raised her chin, narrowed her eyes and her nostrils flared slightly. When she opened her mouth to speak, Nadeshiko interrupted her.

‘Pardon me, mother.’ The look in her eyes seemed to convey a request for restraint. ‘Who was it on the phone?’

This momentary interruption seemed to bring Ms. Fujisaki back to her senses.

‘It was Ms. Hinamori, Amu’s mother. Your friend is sick, and they will not be joining us today.’

Rima cursed her luck under her breath. Amu’s mother was a sweet-tempered ditzy woman, and for this reason Rima had hoped she might have improved the atmosphere a bit. Unfortunately it was not to be.

Shortly after Ms. Fujisaki sat back down the trouble continued, and they continued to eat their meals in silence.

‘The weather was beautiful yesterday.’ Nadeshiko said conversationally.

‘Yes. Spring is upon us and the cherry trees will soon blossom.’ Ms. Fujisaki replied.

‘Hopefully we will have an opportunity to go see them.’

‘God willing.’

The stale tension continued and Rima wanted to bang her head into the table.

‘It’s been so long since we’ve done that.’ Ms. Mashiro said, to Rima’s surprise. 

‘Your father always thought it was too dangerous, with so many strangers about..’

With trepidation, Rima smiled at her mother. ‘I know you were just trying to protect me...’

‘Still, it’s not right to deprive you of this experience.’ Uncertain of how to continue, her mother shifted in her chair. ‘Maybe I can convince your father to let us go sometime.’

The sentiment died as soon as the words were spoken, because of the doubt evident in Ms. Mashiro’s eyes. 

The pictures in her head turned to ash, and Rima lowered her eyes with bitterness. Markedly, Nadeshiko seemed to notice.

‘Mother, perhaps we could all go together?’

The apprehension was visible in Ms. Fujisaki’s expression, in spite of this, she smiled.

‘That would be wonderful dear.’

Finally Rima felt the veil was lifted, and the mood improved. It was unlikely their mothers would ever become the best of friends, however, at least they were willing to suffer each others’ presence for the sake of their children.

The rest of dinner was uneventful. After dessert had been served, Ms. Mashiro thanked Ms. Fujisaki politely for ‘‘taking such good care of her’’.

The moment the door shut and her mother was out of the house, Ms. Fujisaki turned to Nadeshiko.

‘Go change your clothes darling.’

‘Yes mother.’ Nadeshiko bowed slightly and turned a corner.

_________________________________________________________________________

The sweet tang of the watermelon hit Rima with full force, and it distracted her from the annoying sound of the caged canary made. It was loudly chirping from its resting place just behind the sliding door. Despite its presence a full room away in the hall leading to the engawa, its powerful chipper drew every ear, with the exception of Nagihikos'. Evidently he was used to its out-of-tune screeching.

To Rima's greatest surprise, Nagihiko’s eating habits were unrefined when no one was watching. He had no regard whatsoever for the fate of his face and clothes. For some reason she felt scandalized and fascinated watching him, even though her default reaction should have been disgust.

The entirety of his face was pink, and not by normal means. No part of his upper body was spared as the juice dripped down his neck and onto his T-shirt. It spread everywhere as he continued to devour the melon.

'Nagi, have ye no mercy?' She asked in jest.

'What?'

'Go easy on that poor watermelon. You're tearing it apart like it owes you money.'

He looked at her for a brief moment in surprise, and then burst out laughing.

'Watch out! You're spitting it everywhere!'

With a grin, he pulled her to him and tried to plant a kiss on her cheek. However, she wiggled free and scooched away for him.

'You can kiss me when your mouth is clean.'

'I can't believe you're being the responsible one.'

'For the first time in my entire life. So go clean your mouth and make sure it never happens again.'

After Nagihiko had made sure he was no longer half watermelon, Rima leaned against him while he finished off the rest of his food in a more acceptable manner. 

The atmosphere was so peaceful she felt all the stress of dinner seep out of her. As she listened to the sound of Nagihiko's heartbeat she drifted off to sleep.

When she felt his body move away, she awoke with a start, irritated at the interruption.

Sleepily, she turned to look at his face in order to investigate what the cause of the ruckus was. He looked grey and ashen. In front of him, Rima's mother was standing with her mouth agape.

'You'd forgotten your schoolbooks so I came over to bring them in case you wanted to do some homework...' The explanation fell on deaf ears.

With shame, Rima detached herself from Nagihiko and looked at her mother to face her.

'Thank you.'

No one wanted to address the elephant in the room.

'Who is this? You didn't tell me there was a boy living in this house as well. And one you seem to know rather well...'

The gears in her mother's head were visibly turning. There was nothing they could have done to stop her.

'You are Nadeshiko, aren't you?

Because they had been caught red-handed, it was difficult for Nagihiko to lie, regardless of the fact that it had never been before. Rima felt guilty. It was her fault. All her fault. If she hadn't been there...

Her mother shook her out of her thoughts.

'Wait here a moment, I will go fetch your mother, and then we are going to have a talk.'

At the same time her steps echoed into the house, Nagihiko started to cry and Rima's heart broke.

'Nagi, don't cry, it'll be alright.' She tried to console him.

'No.' 

The soft tone of voice that he spoke in sounded so devastated that Rima felt a pang in her chest. 

'Mother will make me change schools and forbid me from seeing you.'

Even as she felt him slipping through her fingers, she grabbed onto his arms and shook him.

'Don't say that. Surely she wouldn't do something so cruel?'

'You don't know her like I do.'

He whispered fearfully, as tears continued to stream down his face. Not knowing what to do, Rima wrapped Nagihiko in a tight hug even as he attempted to free himself from her grip.

'They'll be here any minute now.' 

'We're damned if we do and damned if we don't.'

Upon hearing her words, he calmed and buried his face in her hair.

True to his predictions, Ms. Fujisaki was furious and reacted with disgust at seeing the two of them. Conversely, Ms. Mashiro features were schooled into with the determination of a person on a mission.

'Let go of my son at once!'

Just as Rima was about to protest, her mother surprised her and did it for her.

'No. You be quiet and listen to me for a second.'

Ms. Fujisaki was about to breathe fire, nevertheless, Ms. Mashiro shushed her and launched into an enraged rant.

'I can't believe the sheer gall you have of coming into my home, lecturing  _ me  _ about my parenting, when you're raising your only son as a girl!'

'How dare you-' Ms Fujisaki started.

'Look at the boy! He's clearly miserable. You're ruining his entire youth for the sake of learning a couple of dances!'

In reaction Ms. Fujisaki turned as cold as stone and spoke to Ms. Mashiro in a condescending manner.

'Nagihiko understands that sacrifices must be made to master the art of Buyo.'

Whereas Ms. Fujisaki's icy fury was intimidating Rima into silence, Ms. Mashiro was having none of it. Iddly Rima wondered where all this bravery went when speaking to her father.

'Why don't you ask him? Ask him if he wants to be a girl for the rest of his life so that his mother can have a doll to play with?'

If looks could kill, Ms. Mashiro would already have been bleeding all over the engawa. As it was, however, she was currently staring down Ms. Fujisaki as if the angels themselves had bode her to do so.

As a result of Ms. Mashiro's challenge, Ms.Fujisaki shot an angry yet questioning look at Nagihiko.The pleading guilt she saw in his eyes was the only answer anyone needed.

In the way she deflated and lost her angry passion, decades of grief were hidden and squashed. Suddenly she looked ten years older and her eyes held tiredness.

To Rima's horror Ms. Fujisaki started crying in the same fashion that Nagihiko had.

Beseeching eyes of the same color met. Ms. Fujisaki bowed deeply to Nagihiko.

'I offer you my deepest regrets. I've put you through the same hell my mother put me through, that I swore I would never inflict on anyone else.'

Nagihiko wrenched himself loose from Rima's embrace, stood up and montioned to his mother to do the same.

'I forgive you.'

Jokingly he had referred to her earlier as the 'responsible one', even so, she knew she was nowhere near his level of maturity as he held his mother's hands while she cried. He repeated over and over again that he forgave her and that he loved her, but she was inconsolable, much like he had been before.

Finally, Ms. Fujisaki apologized to Ms. Mashiro and Rima and shuffled off.

'Rima, I think it's best you go back home tonight.' Her mother said sternly.

Because of the obviousness of her mother's request, Rima suppressed rolling her eyes and instead nodded firmly. 

'Can I say goodbye to Nagihiko first?'

Ms. Mashiro agreed gruffly. ‘I’ll be waiting in the car.’

Neither knew what to say as her mother walked away as well. After the display of emotions Rima had seen that night, she realized she didn’t know Nagihiko as well as she thought he did. There was no tension felt between the two of them but rather a soul-wrenching weariness.

When Rima looked up at Nagihiko she saw that he was pensive and sad. The pain that she saw in his eyes was almost as vast as the one she saw in Ms. Fujisaki’s eyes.

Some small part of her wondered if it was somehow all her fault. That her touch was destructive, and that she had wrecked Nagihiko’s home-life the same way hers was a mess.

However, a louder voice rejoiced that a person she cherished so dearly had finally gotten the freedom he deserved. If she were optimistic, she believed that they could weather the storm together and become their true selves. In the same way he had been there for her, she wanted to be there for him.

Mirroring his actions from earlier, she took his hands in hers.

‘I’ve let everyone down.’ He said sorrowfully.

‘Nagi, look at me.’

Pulling himself out of the darkness he was in, he looked up and faced her.

‘You’ve let no one down. This is not your fault.’

He shook his head in disagreement. Many unspoken sentiments hung in the air, crushing Rima with their unbearable weight. Because of his confrontation with his mother, he looked as pale as a ghost and as frail as glass. More than anything she wanted to shake him to make him feel that he was alive, and wanted to scream at him that he mattered.

‘You deserve to be yourself, you don’t exist to serve your mother.’

He snapped his head up and their eyes connected with a shock. As she looked at him, she could see that he was fighting an internal battle that he had fought many times before.

‘Mother never forced me. I want to be the best dancer I can be.’

‘It’s okay to be both, you don’t have to choose.’

Tears threatened to fall again, and for this reason he turned to look away. He sighed heavily and turned back.

‘I know you’re right. I know. But sometimes I feel like I’m just not good enough.’

On impulse she touched his hand. She hadn’t realized he felt that way too, and therefore she felt encouraged to reach out to him. For a long time she had felt that her parent’s marital problems were her fault. If she had never been kidnapped, she had often thought, they would’ve still been a happy family. On miserable days, she’d imagine what that would be like.

Nevertheless, that was not the reality.

As a matter of fact, she had been kidnapped. And she was not to blame for that. By the same token, the abominable state of her parents’ relationship was not her fault either, nor could she fix it in some way.

In the case of Nagihiko, it was the same scenario. He felt guilty for the actions of others and for other things he had no control over.

‘Me too.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘We just need to remind each other that we are enough.’

Although she knew he wanted to believe it, she could see the doubt in his movements.

The words wouldn’t come out. ‘But it’s so hard.’

‘I know. It’s a battle, because there’s always a voice saying you’re not trying hard enough. Or that you’re not smart enough. Or not pretty enough, or whatever it is you want to be. ‘However, you are what you are. You’re not perfect, but no one is. The only thing you can do is accept yourself for who you are. It’s not easy, it’s the most difficult process you ever have to go through. But it gets better.’

Nagihiko’s face lit up with joy like a flower in bloom. One last time that evening, he reached out to Rima and pulled her into a hug.

‘Thank you.’ He whispered.

‘Anything for you Nagi.’

With those words, she waddled after her mother, away from the Fujisaki estate. A lightness settled in her heart, and she knew that the both of them would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Roll credits *ding*.   
> That's it guys. To all the readers that have made it this far, (if you guys are out there!) Thank you so much for reading the rewritten version of a story I started eight years ago. I appreciate your support!


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